William  Bennett  Munro 

Harvard  University 

Cambridge,  Maes 


H.  E.  M. 
WJPL 


THE  N.  W.  HARRIS  LECTURES 
FOR  1908 


$L.  Wi.  ^arrte  Hectares 


were  founded  in  1906  through  the  generosity  of  Mr. 
Norman  Wait  Harris  of  Chicago,  and  are  to  be  given 
annually.  The  purpose  of  the  lecture  foundation  is, 
as  expressed  by  the  donor,  "to  stimulate  scientific 
research  of  the  highest  type  and  to  bring  the  results 
of  such  research  before  the  students  and  friends  of 
Northwestern  University,  and  through  them  to  the 
world.  By  the  term  '  scientific  research  '  is  meant 
scholarly  investigation  into  any  department  of  human 
thought  or  effort  without  limitation  to  research  in  the 
so-called  natural  sciences,  but  with  a  desire  that  such 
investigation  should  be  extended  to  cover  the  whole 
field  of  human  knowledge." 


UNIVERSITY 
ADMINISTRATION 


BY 


CHARLES  W.  ELIOT 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 


1908 


COPYRIGHT,   ICJOS,   BY  CHARLES  W.  ELIOT 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 

Published  November,  iqdS 


CONTENTS 

I.  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES  1 

II.  AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

—  ALUMNI  INFLUENCE  44 

IH.  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY  81 

IV.  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM  131 

V.  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION  174 

VI.  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  — THE  PRESIDENT 

—  GENERAL  ADMINISTRATION  214 

INDEX  255 


UNIVERSITY  ADMINISTRATION 


UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

THE  principal  governing  board  of  an  Ameri- 
can university  is  most  commonly  called  the 
trustees  or  the  regents.  In  endowed  institu- 
tions the  members  of  the  board  usually  serve 
for  life ;  but  in  State  and  city  institutions  they 
ordinarily  serve  for  a  limited  term  of  years, 
being  reeligible  term  after  term.  The  number 
of  members  in  such  boards  varies  very  much, 
.being  sometimes  as  small  as  seven  or  nine, 
and  often  as  large  as  twenty  to  forty,  and 
even  larger.  The  endowed  institutions  have  a 
decided  advantage  over  the  institutions  sup- 
ported by  taxation,  in  that  they  can  select 
comparatively  young  men  as  trustees,  and  get 
from  them  a  long  service;  and  they  are  also 
free,  as  regards  the  choice  of  trustees,  from 
the  political,  commercial,  or  class  influences 


2  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

which  sometimes  control  the  choice  of  trus- 
tees or  regents  in  institutions  maintained  from 
public  revenues.  In  the  American  State  and 
city  universities  and  colleges  the  objectionable 
political  influences  have  diminished  with  time ; 
but  class  influences  such  as  that  exerted  by 
farmers  as  a  class,  or  trade-unionists  as  a  class, 
are  still  apt  to  prove  potent. 

The  kind  of  man  needed  in  the  governing 
board  of  a  university  is  the  highly  educated, 
public-spirited,  business  or  professional  man, 
who  takes  a  strong  interest  in  educational  and 
social  problems,  and  believes  in  the  higher 
education  as  the  source  of  enlightenment  and 
progress  for  all  stages  of  education,  and  for 
all  the  industrial  and  social  interests  of  the 
community.  He  should  also  be  a  man  who  has 
been  successful  in  his  own  calling,  and  com- 
mands the  confidence  of  all  who  know  him. 
The  faculty  he  will  most  need  is  good  judg- 
ment; for  he  will  often  be  called  upon  to  de- 
cide on  matters  which  lie  beyond  the  scope  of 
his  own  experience,  and  about  which  he  must, 
therefore,  get  his  facts  through  others,  and 


SEVEN  THE  BEST  NUMBER  3 

his  opinions  through  a  process  of  comparison 
and  judicious  shifting. 

The  best  number  of  members  for  a  univer- 
sity's principal  governing  board  is  seven;  be- 
cause that  number  of  men  can  sit  round  a  small 
table,  talk  with  each  other  informally  without 
waste  of  words  or  any  display  or  pretence, 
provide  an  adequate  diversity  of  points  of  view 
and  modes  of  dealing  with  the  subject  in  hand, 
and  yet  be  prompt  and  efficient  in  the  despatch 
of  business.  In  a  board  of  seven  the  different 
professions  and  callings  can  be  sufficiently 
represented. 

In  State  institutions  it  has  been  the  practice 
to  put  into  the  governing  board  of  the  State 
university  a  considerable  number  of  ex-officio 
members ;  as,  for  instance,  the  Governor,  the 
Chief  Justice,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  State 
Board  of  Agriculture,  —  following  in  this  re- 
spect the  early  example  of  Harvard  College, 
whose  first  governing  board,  established  in 
1642,  contained  the  Governor  and  Deputy 
Governor,  the  Magistrates  of  the  Jurisdiction, 
together  with  the  teaching  elders  of  the  six 


4  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

next  adjoining  towns.  In  an  infant  colony  or 
state  this  method  is  a  natural  one ;  but  in  an 
adult  community,  ex-officio  members  are  ordi- 
narily undesirable,  because  they  are  inevitably 
men  fully  occupied  with  other  affairs,  who 
were  selected  for  skill  in  those  other  affairs, 
and  not  because  of  their  fitness  to  govern 
a  university.  If,  however,  the  trustees  are  a 
numerous  board,  meeting  but  seldom,  and  in- 
trusting the  real  work  to  a  few  selected  mem- 
bers, the  ex-officio  members  may  be  as  good 
figure-heads  as  the  community  can  supply. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  the  ordinary  life- 
service  on  boards  of  trustees  of  endowed  insti- 
tutions would  result  in  boards  composed  of 
old  men;  but  this  undesirable  result  will  not 
occur  i£  pains  be  taken  to  fill  each  successive 
vacancy  in  the  board  from  a  generation  younger 
than  that  to  which  most  of  the  surviving 
members  belong.  There  is  a  natural  tendency 
in  any  such  cooptative  board  to  fill  a  vacancy 
by  electing  some  contemporary  of  the  remain- 
ing members;  but  this  tendency  should  inva- 
riably be  resisted. 


LENGTH  OF  SERVICE  5 

The  average  length  of  service  of  members 
of  such  boards  is  by  no  means  so  long  as  is 
usually  supposed.  A  few  men  serve  for  long 
terms;  a  few  others  serve  for  short  terms; 
but  the  main  body  of  members,  during  fifty 
or  a  hundred  years,  will  have  a  length  of 
service  which  can  fairly  be  called  moderate. 
Thus  between  1792  and  1893  thirty-seven 
men  served  as  Fellows  in  Harvard's  principal 
governing  board,  called  the  President  and 
Fellows  of  Harvard  College;  and  the  aver- 
age term  of  service  of  these  thirty-seven  men 
was  eleven  and  seven-tenths  years.  It  should 
be  said,  however,  first,  that  to  serve  on  this 
board  has  always  been  considered  a  high 
honor  in  Massachusetts;  and  secondly,  that 
the  service  is  decidedly  exacting,  claiming  the 
entire  attention  of  the  members  during  about 
four  morning  hours  once  a  fortnight,  except 
during  the  summer  vacation,  and  entailing  a 
variety  of  work  on  committees  in  addition. 

When  a  board  of  trustees  is  large,  and  the 
residences  of  its  members  are  scattered  over 
a  wide  area,  the  meetings  of  the  board  are  sure 


6  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

to  be  infrequent,  and  its  business  has  to  be 
delegated  to  an  executive  or  prudential  com- 
mittee. The  board  itself  then  becomes  a  sort 
of  confirming  or  consenting  board,  and  in  some 
cases  a  court  of  appeal,  its  real  work  from 
week  to  week  being  done  by  a  small  commit- 
tee which  can  easily  come  together  for  consul- 
tation and  action.  Any  board  for  which  a 
membership  of  national  range  is  desired  will 
turn  out  to  be  of  this  nature,  as,  for  example, 
the  regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  and 
the  trustees  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation.  It 
is  a  curious  and  interesting  fact  that  the  uni- 
versity with  the  most  fortunate  organization 
in  the  country  is  the  oldest  university,  its 
principal  governing  board,  the  President  and 
Fellows  of  Harvard  College,  consisting  of 
seven  men,  who  still  act  under  the  Charter 
of  1650,  in  which  no  line  or  word  has  ever 
been  changed. 

The  functions  of  the  board  of  trustees  or 
regents  of  an  American  university  are  of  fun- 
damental importance.  They  relate  to  the  man- 


FUNCTIONS  OF  TRUSTEES  7 

agement  of  the  property  both  "real  and  per- 
sonal ;  to  the  distribution  of  the  annual  income 
of  the  university  among  the  different  depart- 
ments of  instruction  and  research ;  to  the  ap- 
pointment of  all  officers  and  teachers  in  the 
university ;  to  salaries  and  retiring  allowances ; 
and  to  the  enactment  of  the  rules  or  statutes 
under  which  the  regular  work  of  the  univer- 
sity proceeds.  The  board  also  passes  finally  on 
all  the  educational  policies  of  the  university ; 
but  in  this  function  it  ordinarily  follows  the 
advice  of  the  university  faculties,  or  of  com- 
mittees to  which  faculties  have  delegated  their 
authority  on  certain  subjects. 

In  the  endowed  institutions  the  care  of  the 
property  of  the  university  takes  much  of  the 
time  of  the  trustees.  A  salaried  treasurer  is 
responsible  for  all  administrative  details,  and 
for  the  suggestion  of  new  investments  and 
changes  of  investments.  He  needs  the  aid  of 
a  small  finance  committee;  and  consequently, 
in  the  choice  of  trustees,  attention  should  be 
given  to  providing  the  treasurer  with  a  small 
number  of  competent  and  easily  accessible 


8  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

advisers.  Experienced  boards  follow  a  few 
plain  rules  with  regard  to  their  investments. 
The  first  rule  is  to  use  an  adequate  variety  of 
sound  investments,  such  as  mortgages,  busi- 
ness notes,  —  especially  notes  of  corporations, 
—  railroad  stocks  and  bonds,  bonds  of  public- 
utilities  companies,  —  such  as  street  railways, 
telegraph  and  telephone  companies,  and  light, 
heat,  and  power  companies,  —  real  estate  trust 
stocks,  and  real  estate.  Some  endowed  uni- 
versities have  profited  greatly  by  real  estate 
investments  in  rapidly  growing  towns  and 
cities;  but  others  have  found  urban  real  estate 
investments  to  be  not  only  troublesome  but 
insecure,  and  fluctuating  as  to  the  amount  of 
their  income.  The  insecurity  results  from  the 
sudden  and  unforeseen  migrations  of  popula- 
tion and  trades  which  have  occurred  in  many 
American  cities.  As  to  agricultural  holdings, 
they  are  in  most  communities  too  insecure  for 
university  investments,  as  English  Cambridge 
and  Oxford  learnt  to  their  dismay  in  the  last 
third  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Under  the 
tax  laws  of  some  States,  mortgages,  which 


UNIVERSITY  INVESTMENTS  9 

were  formerly  a  favorite  form  of  investment 
for  universities,  as  for  other  trusts,  have  ceased 
to  be  desirable.  A  conservative  board  inevit- 
ably tends  to  make  local  investments,  because 
local  investments  can  be  more  easily  investi- 
gated at  the  beginning,  and  watched  as  the 
years  go  by.  Nevertheless,  a  prudent  board  of 
university  trustees  will  endeavor  to  keep  the 
range  of  its  investments  wide;  so  that  the 
university  may  not  suffer  deeply  when  some 
one  section  of  the  country  becomes  unpros- 
perous,  or  some  one  industry  ceases  to  be 
profitable.  Railroad  stocks  and  bonds  have 
been  favorite  university  investments  of  late 
years,  partly  on  account  of  their  convenience 
and  easy  negotiability,  but  partly  also  because 
their  ultimate  security  rests  on  the  success  of 
an  immense  variety  of  industries  and  pro- 
ductive activities  all  over  the  country.  It  is  a 
striking  fact  that  university  investments  in 
our  days,  with  the  exception  of  real  estate 
and  mortgages,  are  made  chiefly  in  forms  of 
property  which  had  no  existence  seventy  years 
ago. 


10  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

University  trustees  naturally  prefer  that 
funds  given  them  for  specific  objects  should 
not  be  invested  in  specified  securities,  but 
should  be  merged  with  the  general  invest- 
ments of  the  institution,  the  average  income 
on  the  general  investments  being  credited  to 
each  separate  fund  and  applied  to  its  specific 
object.  In  this  way  the  mass  of  the  general 
investments  insures  the  capital  of  each  fund 
and  the  perpetual  accomplishment  of  its  spe- 
cific object.  The  benefactor  who  does  not  pre- 
fer this  method  has  either  a  speculative  turn 
as  regards  investments,  or  a  remarkable  confi- 
dence in  his  own  judgment  concerning  to-day's 
investments,  combined  with  a  willingness  to 
trust  for  the  perpetuity  of  his  endowment 
to  the  sagacity  the  trustees  will  exhibit  from 
generation  to  generation  in  reinvesting  his 
fund.  Since,  however,  benefactors  appear  from 
time  to  time  who  prefer  the  chances  of  higher 
income  for  their  funds  and  of  profits  on 
changes  of  the  funds'  securities  to  a  more 
moderate  but  assured  income,  the  trustees 
must  be  prepared  to  accept  gifts  which  are 


UNIVERSITY  EXPENDITURE  11 

to  be  specially  invested.  The  trustees  may 
also  have  reasons  of  their  own  for  temporarily 
holding  a  gift  in  the  particular  securities  in 
which  it  was  turned  over  to  them.  The  se- 
curities may  not  be  salable  at  the  moment  on 
advantageous  terms,  and  yet  be  good  enough 
to  hold  for  the  object  of  the  gift. 

Next  to  the  exercise  of  good  judgment  in 
making  sound  investments  of  the  university 
property,  comes  the  discretion  of  the  trustees 
in  expending  the  university  income.  There 
are  certain  fundamental  questions  concerning 
university  expenditure  which  the  trustees,  or 
some  committee  acting  for  the  trustees,  must 
settle.  What  proportion  of  the  university 
income  shall  be  devoted  to  salaries,  and 
what  proportion  to  expenses, — such  as  light, 
heat,  cleaning,  maintenance  of  buildings,  ser- 
vices and  wages,  apparatus,  and  the  care  of 
grounds?  The  large  part  of  a  university's 
income  which  must  go  to  other  objects  than 
salaries  is  often  a  disagreeable  surprise  for 
inexperienced  trustees.  Of  late  years  this  pro- 
portion devoted  to  general  expenses  has  been 


12  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

increasing,  on  account  of  the  increased  pro- 
vision of  apparatus  and  other  supplies,  and 
the  rising  cost  of  the  maintenance  of  build- 
ings and  of  the  mechanical  equipment.  The 
establishment  of  a  wise  scale  of  salaries  is 
another  very  important  duty  of  the  board  of 
trustees.  Since  the  physical  surroundings  and 
social  conditions  of  the  American  universities 
differ  greatly,  widely  different  scales  of  sala- 
ries exist  in  them,  and  these  differences  seem 
likely  to  be  permanent.  Each  institution, 
therefore,  must  study  out  for  itself  that  scale 
of  salaries  which  best  suits  its  special  needs 
and  circumstances,  and  this  study  and  the 
responsibility  for  ultimate  action  belong  to 
the  board  of  trustees. 

The  general  features  of  a  good  scale  of 
salaries  are  as  follows:  The  salary  of  an  an- 
nual appointee  at  the  start  should  be  low, — 
about  the  amount  needed  by  a  young  unmar- 
ried man  for  comfortable  support  in  the  uni- 
versity's city  or  village.  When,  after  a  few 
years,  this  young  man  receives  an  appoint- 
ment without  limit  of  time,  a  somewhat  higher 


THE  SCALE  OF  SALARIES  13 

salary  should  be  given  him,  with  a  small  ad- 
vance each  year  for,  say,  three  years.  If  this 
instructor  so  commends  himself  that  the  uni- 
versity desires  his  further  service,  he  should 
receive,  as  assistant  professor,  a  salary  which 
will  enable  him  to  support  a  wife  and  two  or 
three  children  comfortably,  but  without  lux- 
ury or  costly  pleasures.  It  is  well  to  have  the 
appointment  of  assistant  professor  given  for  a 
fixed  term  of  years,  as,  for  example,  five.  If, 
at  the  end  of  his  first  term  as  assistant  pro- 
fessor, a  second  appointment  with  the  same 
title  be  given,  a  moderate  advance  of  salary 
should  accompany  the  second  appointment. 
By  the  time  the  end  of  a  second  term  as  assist- 
ant professor  is  reached,  the  candidate  for 
further  employment  in  the  university  will  be 
approaching  forty  years  of  age,  and  is  ready 
for  a  full  professorship.  On  promotion  to  this 
life-office,  another  advance  of  salary  should 
be  given,  so  that  the  salary  of  the  full  pro- 
fessor may  easily  be  four  times  the  sum  which 
the  young  man  received  at  his  first  annual 
appointment.  The  salary  of  a  full  professor 


14  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

should  then  rise  by  moderate  steps — say  once 
in  five  years — until  the  maximum  is  reached, 
the  maximum  being  ordinarily  attained  be- 
tween fifty  and  fifty-five  years  of  age,  unless 
in  the  cases  of  men  who  demonstrate  their 
fitness  for  a  professorship  earlier  in  life,  and 
have  the  chance  to  fill  some  vacancy  or  new 
post.  This  scale  of  salaries  is  arranged  for 
persons  who  begin  at  the  bottom,  and  rise 
through  all  the  stages  to  the  top  of  university 
employ.  When  men  of  ability,  proved  else- 
where, are  taken  into  the  university's  service, 
a  position  on  the  scale  must  be  assigned  to 
them  by  the  trustees,  who  will  naturally  be 
guided  by  the  extent  of  their  experience  and 
services  elsewhere,  their  desirableness,  and 
the  inducements  other  than  salary  which  are 
likely  to  influence  them.  To  fix  this  scale  of 
salaries,  and  to  modify  it  from  time  to  time, 
according  to  changing  social  conditions,  and 
the  general  scale  of  living  in  the  community 
which  surrounds  the  university,  is  one  of  the 
most  important  duties  of  trustees,  and  one  of 
the  most  difficult. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  SALARIES  —  PENSIONS    15 

In  a  large  university  there  will  always  be 
.numerous  administrative  officers  besides  the 
teachers.  The  salaries  of  these  administrative 
officers  can  be,  for  the  most  part,  assimilated 
according  to  their  age  and  academic  stand- 
ing to  those  of  teachers ;  but  in  general  the 
administrative  posts  in  a  university  are  less 
attractive  than  the  teaching  posts,  because 
they  do  not  offer  the  satisfaction  of  literary 
or  scientific  attainment,  the  long,  uninter- 
rupted vacations  which  teachers  enjoy,  or  the 
pleasure  of  intimate,  helpful  intercourse  with 
a  stream  of  young  men  of  high  intellectual 
ambition.  Accordingly,  salaries  for  able  and 
altruistic  young  men  ought  to  be  somewhat 
higher  in  administrative  posts  than  they  are 
for  men  of  corresponding  age  and  merit  in 
teaching  posts. 

A  prudent  and  far-seeing  board  of  trustees 
will  make  sure  that  a  system  of  retiring 
allowances  or  pensions  is  provided  for  all  the 
teachers  and  administrative  officers  that  they 
employ.  This  provision  is  needed  to  attract 
the  right  sort  of  man  to  university  work,  to 


16  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

make  promotion  more  rapid  than  it  would 
otherwise  be,  and  to  keep  the  university  staff 
fresh  and  efficient.  It  is  not  an  extravagant 
or  luxurious  provision,  but  a  true  economy. 
So  far  as  the  endowed  universities  are  con- 
cerned, the  Carnegie  Foundation  has  in  large 
measure  relieved  trustees  of  this  function. 

In  the  endowed  institutions  which  depend  in 
part  on  tuition-fees,  the  trustees  have  a  diffi- 
cult function  in  determining  what  tuition-fees 
may  safely  be  charged,  without  reducing  the 
number  of  students,  or  impairing  their  quality 
by  excluding  the  able  and  ambitious  sons  of 
families  whose  income  is  small.  Experience 
has  taught  that  well-conducted  universities, 
in  which  a  moderate  number  of  scholarships 
and  fellowships  are  accessible  to  promising 
young  men,  and  a  variety  of  remunerative 
employments  can  be  offered  to  students  for  a 
part  of  their  time,  can  be  successfully  main- 
tained, and,  indeed,  rapidly  enlarged,  although 
they  charge  considerable  tuition-fees,  and  are 
all  the  time  in  competition  with  universi- 
ties which  charge  nothing,  or  but  little,  for 


INCREASING  UNIVERSITY  RESOURCES     17 

tuition.  To  accomplish  this  end,  however, 
requires  prudence  and  good  judgment  on  the 
part  of  the  trustees,  together  with  a  broad 
outlook  on  the  general  conditions  of  Ameri- 
can society. 

Every  university  board  of  trustees  has  to 
study  carefully  the  means  of  enlarging  the 
resources  of  the  university.  An  endowed  uni- 
versity needs  a  stream  of  new  gifts,  in  order 
to  enable  it  to  maintain  its  old  departments, 
and  provide  the  new  ones  which  the  social 
and  industrial  changes  in  the  community  at 
large  make  desirable,  or,  indeed,  indispen- 
sable. The  most  effectual  means  of  procuring 
new  gifts  is  to  demonstrate  that  all  previous 
gifts  have  been  used  with  consideration  for 
the  givers'  wishes,  with  safety  as  regards  the 
permanence  of  the  trusts,  and  with  discretion 
as  regards  their  steady  usefulness.  The  win- 
ning of  new  endowments  depends  on  wide- 
spread confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  success 
with  which  the  trustees  have  used  their  exist- 
ing endowments.  To  this  end  any  experienced 
and  successful  board  of  trustees  will  make  the 


18  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

most  complete  publication  possible  of  their 
annual  accounts  and  of  the  state  of  their  pro- 
perty. They  will  also  secure  in  some  way  the 
public  announcement  of  the  pressing  needs 
of  the  university  in  the  immediate  future. 

In  a  State  university  the  function  of  the 
board  of  trustees  or  regents  in  this  respect  is 
similar  to,  but  not  identical  with,  that  in  an 
endowed.  There  is  the  same  need  of  the  ut- 
most publicity  with  regard  to  all  the  financial 
doings  of  the  board  and  the  condition  of  the 
property ;  but  their  attention  needs  to  be  di- 
rected chiefly  to  convincing  the  people  of  the 
State,  and  particularly  the  members  of  the  le- 
gislature, first,  of  the  usefulness  of  their  uni- 
versity; secondly,  of  its  merits  and  defects 
in  comparison  with  the  universities  of  other 
States ;  and  thirdly,  of  its  urgent  needs.  As  in 
the  case  of  the  endowed  institutions,  the  trus- 
tees or  regents  will  need  to  use  all  means  of 
spreading  among  educated  people  throughout 
the  State  a  knowledge,  not  only  of  the  actual 
condition  of  the  university,  but  of  its  potency 
and  promise.  If  the  industries  of  the  State  are 


INCREASING  UNIVERSITY  RESOURCES     19 

developed  in  any  particular  direction,  as,  for 
example,  towards  mining,  or  agriculture,  or 
forestry,  or  manufacturing,  the  university  trus- 
tees will  naturally  endeavor  to  serve  conspicu- 
ously the  special  industry  of  the  State;  be- 
cause a  popular  interest  in  the  university  thus 
aroused  can  be  depended  on  to  promote  en- 
largements in  many  other  directions.  The  ex- 
perience of  such  universities  as  those  of  Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Illinois,  Missouri, 
Kansas,  and  California,  illustrates  amply  all 
phases  of  this  important  function  of  university 
trustees  in  increasing  university  resources. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  trustees  of  a  college  or 
university  to  promote  in  every  possible  way 
the  interests  of  the  municipality  in  which  the 
institution  is  situated.  As  a  rule,  whatever 
helps  the  college  or  university  will  help  the 
municipality,  and  whatever  improves  the  muni- 
cipality as  a  place  of  residence  will  help  the 
college  or  university.  It  has  been  abundantly 
proved  that  the  presence  of  exempted  institu- 
tions in  any  municipality  is  a  clear  advantage 
to  that  municipality,  especially  if  the  institu- 


20  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

tions  maintain  open  grounds  and  erect  inter- 
esting buildings.  Indeed,  exempted  areas,  if 
they  possess  natural  or  artificial  beauty,  and 
are  kept  in  good  order,  are  always  a  pecuniary 
advantage  to  a  municipality,  whether  they 
belong  to  the  town  or  city,  or  to  exempted  in- 
stitutions within  its  limits.  Since,  however, 
it  is  the  duty  of  university  trustees  to  see  to  it 
that  safe  and  convenient  lodgings  are  acces- 
sible to  their  students,  and  that  wholesome 
food  can  be  obtained  at  low  prices,  it  is  pos- 
sible for  trustees,  who  attend  to  their  duties 
in  these  respects,  to  interfere  somewhat  with 
the  business  of  those  residents  of  the  muni- 
cipality who  let  rooms  to  students,  or  feed 
them.  University  trustees  may  reasonably  re- 
gard it  as  their  duty  also  to  see  to  it  that  all 
the  supplies  which  students  need,  such  as 
books,  stationery,  clothing,  and  furniture,  are 
brought  within  the  reach  of  students  at  moder- 
ate prices  through  the  agency  of  a  cooperative 
society ;  and  if  such  a  society  be  established 
with  the  assistance  of  the  trustees,  it  will 
interfere  somewhat  with  the  business  of  local 


LODGINGS,  FOOD,  AND  SUPPLIES          21 

dealers  in  such  supplies.  A  due  regard  to  the 
•welfare  of  the  students  and  the  institution 
makes  it  impossible  for  careful  and  judicious 
trustees  to  leave  the  prices  of  the  things  which 
all  students — rich  and  poor  alike — must  buy 
to  be  determined  by  competition  between 
private  persons  only,  particularly  at  an  insti- 
tution at  which  the  number  of  students  is 
increasing  with  some  rapidity.  Unless  a  uni- 
versity be  willing  to  take  its  students  only 
from  well-to-do  families,  it  must  see  to  it  that 
lodgings,  food,  fuel,  and  indispensable  sup- 
plies are  accessible  to  students  at  moderate 
prices.  Moreover,  halls  of  chambers  and  large 
dining-halls  increase  not  only  the  enjoyments 
of  student-life,  but  also  its  ethical  and  demo- 
cratic influences.  To  overcome  this  inevitable 
difficulty  in  its  relations  to  the  municipality 
in  which  it  is  situated,  a  college  or  university 
should  be  careful  to  offer  facilities  and  grati- 
fications to  the  residents  of  the  place,  such  as 
interesting  lectures  open  to  the  public,  and 
museums  of  art,  history,  and  archaeology,  to 
keep  the  view  of  its  grounds  open  from  the 


22  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

outside,  and  to  give  the  use  of  its  halls  and 
grounds  to  the  town  or  city  on  festival  occa- 
sions, A  college  or  university  may  also  reason- 
ably contribute  to  the  construction  of  good 
roads  on  the  borders  of  its  estate,  and  of  any 
sewers  of  which  it  makes  large  use. 

It  is  an  imperative  duty  of  university  trus- 
tees to  take  all  possible  measures  for  pro- 
moting the  health  and  bodily  vigor  of  the 
students  under  their  charge.  These  measures 
include  a  safe  water-supply,  adequate  warmth 
and  ventilation  in  university  buildings,  good 
play-grounds  and  other  means  of  exercise,  an 
infirmary  or  hospital  for  the  treatment  of  in- 
juries and  of  contagious  and  non-contagious 
diseases,  and  a  system  of  medical  inspection 
and  free  medical  examination  for  students.  It 
is  nowadays  quite  possible,  through  foresight 
and  adequate  expenditure  for  the  means  of 
immediate  isolation  and  treatment,  to  reduce 
very  much  the  chance  of  epidemics,  even 
among  young  men  who  live  together  in  such 
intimate  contact  as  obtains  at  a  college  or  uni- 
versity. It  is  for  the  board  of  trustees  to  de- 


UNIVERSITY  GROUNDS  AND  BUILDINGS    23 

vise  and  provide  all  such  means  of  combating 
disease.  It  is  for  them  to  adopt  all  measures 
•which  preventive  medicine  has  proved  to  be 
useful,  and  thereby  reduce  to  lowest  terms  not 
only  the  death  rate  among  students,  but  also 
the  losses  of  study-time  through  sickness. 

A  difficult  function  for  university  trustees 
is  the  provident  care  of  the  university  estate, 
including  the  selection  of  designs  for  build- 
ings, the  determination  of  the  grouping  of 
buildings,  the  laying-out  and  decoration  of 
the  university's  occupied  grounds,  and  the 
provision  of  an  amount  of  land  sufficient  for 
future  needs.  To  secure  by  gift  or  purchase 
adequate  space  for  the  buildings  of  the  pre- 
sent and  in  good  part  for  those  of  the  future 
is  a  primary  duty.  The  beauty  of  university 
buildings,  of  their  site,  and  of  the  grounds 
about  them,  makes  an  important  part  of  its 
teaching.  On  this  account  urban  universities 
whose  buildings  are  situated  in  compactly 
built  streets  can  never  exert  on  their  students 
all  the  beneficial  influences  which  suburban 
or  rural  universities  can  exert.  Every  large 


24  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

university  should  own  and  maintain  in  good 
order  decorated  open  spaces  about  its  build- 
ings, interior  quadrangles  between  groups  of 
buildings,  gardens,  and  groves.  Shabbiness 
and  untidiness  should  never  be  permitted  on 
university  grounds.  If  the  site  provides  wide 
prospects  or  beautiful  vistas,  these  landscape 
beauties  should  be  carefully  utilized,  and  pre- 
served from  impairment  by  the  growing  up 
of  trees,  or  the  planting  of  buildings  across 
the  lines  of  view.  In  order  to  discharge  well 
this  function  of  university  trustees,  the  board 
should  obtain  the  best  professional  advice 
which  the  country  affords,  and  is  never  justi- 
fied in  employing  for  local  or  political  reasons, 
or  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  benefactors, 
any  advisers  about  the  designs  of  buildings, 
their  sites,  and  the  lay-out  of  grounds,  who 
are  not  of  the  first  class.  In  accepting  the 
gift  of  a  building,  prudent  trustees  will  always 
make  the  condition  that  the  design  and  site 
of  the  building  shall  be  acceptable  to  the  ex- 
pert advisers  of  the  board.  Since  architecture 
and  landscape  architecture  have  now  become 


BEAUTY  OF  GROUNDS  AND  BUILDINGS    25 

well-recognized  professions  for  highly  trained 
men  in  the  United  States,  it  has  become 
inexcusable  in  university  trustees  to  erect 
buildings  without  the  most  careful  possible 
consideration  of  their  designs  and  of  the  re- 
lation of  each  building  to  its  neighbors,  or  to 
plant  buildings  about  their  grounds  without 
reference  to  the  future  buildings  which  the 
university  is  sure  to  need. 

The  poverty  in  which  almost  all  American 
universities  have  grown  up  has  compelled 
their  trustees  to  accept  any  provision  for  the 
needs  of  the  moment,  and  to  use  their  limited 
means  in  the  most  economical  way  for  present 
purposes  without  regard  to  the  needs  of  the 
future.  They  have,  therefore,  too  much  neg- 
lected the  study  of  order  and  beauty  in  the  lay- 
out of  university  grounds,  and  have  incurred 
great  losses  through  the  erection  of  build- 
ings which  were  not  fireproof.  They  needed 
spacious  shelters  so  urgently,  that  they  ran 
the  risk  of  building  large  combustible  struc- 
tures instead  of  smaller  fireproof  ones.  These 
conditions  of  poverty  are  now  passing  away, 


26  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

and  it  is  emphatically  the  duty  of  university 
trustees  to  erect  buildings,  lay  out  their  open 
grounds,  and  plant  them,  with  reference  to 
the  sure  centuries  of  affectionate  use.  Uni- 
versity grounds  and  buildings  can  now  be  ar- 
ranged to  last,  which  seems  to  be  more  than 
can  be  said  for  any  other  buildings  in  the 
United  States,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
some  government  buildings  and  some  country 
churches.  It  may  not  be  very  important  to 
study  carefully  the  design  of  a  house,  factory, 
shop,  office-building,  or  church,  which  is  likely 
to  be  burnt,  torn  down,  or  converted  to  new 
uses  within  seventy  years;  but  grounds  and 
buildings  which  really  have  a  chance  to  prove 
permanent  ought  to  be  studied  in  the  most 
careful  manner  possible.  Because  of  the  im- 
portance of  this  function  of  university  trustees, 
it  is  highly  desirable,  whenever  the  conditions 
permit,  that  trustees  should  be  selected  who 
feel  a  real  affection  for  the  university  which 
they  are  to  govern,  and  for  its  surroundings. 
Strangers  will,  as  a  rule,  not  make  so  good 
trustees  as  children  of  the  house. 


PRUDENCE  IN  ACCEPTING  GIFTS          27 

The  trustees  of  an  endowed  university  have 
a  somewhat  difficult  duty  in  regard  to  the 
acceptance  of  gifts.  There  are  gifts  which  it 
is  highly  inexpedient  to  accept,  —  as,  for  in- 
stance, a  gift  for  a  specified  object  which  is 
not  of  a  surely  durable  nature,  and  yet  comes 
without  discretion  for  the  trustees  as  to  other 
applications  of  the  gift  when  its  specified  use 
shall  be  no  longer  possible,  or  a  gift  which 
would  impair  religious  toleration  or  academic 
freedom,  or  a  gift  which  cannot  be  utilized  with- 
out bringing  new  charges  on  the  university  it- 
self. The  trustees  must  endeavor  to  divert  bene- 
factors away  from  any  such  gifts  as  these  and 
towards  safe  objects,  or  must  procure  modifica- 
tions of  the  terms  of  proposed  gifts,  so  that  these 
dangers  may  be  avoided.  Thus  a  small  building 
with  an  adequate  endowment  for  its  running 
expenses  and  maintenance  will  generally  be 
a  more  acceptable  gift  than  a  larger  build- 
ing without  endowment.  Living  benefactors 
are  generally  willing  to  modify  terms  of  gift 
in  accordance  with  well-considered  university 
policies  which  have  been  avowed  and  declared, 


28  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

and  have  served  as  guides  in  other  instances. 
Indeed,  many  benefactors  are  grateful  for  ad- 
vice which,  if  acted  on  by  them,  will  tend  to 
make  their  benefactions  more  useful  and  more 
durable.  In  order  to  maintain  public  respect 
for  the  endowment  method,  it  is  highly  de- 
sirable that  university  trustees  exercise  a  sound 
discretion  as  to  the  terms  of  proposed  gifts. 
Thus  far  there  have  been  very  few  instances 
in  the  United  States  of  objectionable  endow- 
ments, —  objectionable  because  pauperizing, 
illiberal,  or  useless;  and  in  consequence  the 
endowment  method,  far  from  being  distrusted 
by  the  American  public,  is  looked  upon  with 
high  favor,  as  a  beneficent  application  of  pri- 
vate resources  to  public  uses.  It  is  for  univer- 
sity trustees,  by  the  exercise  of  good  judgment 
in  the  acceptance  of  endowments,  to  maintain 
and  extend  the  public's  appreciation  of  their 
value. 

The  trustees  of  a  State  university  need  much 
wisdom  and  foresight  in  suggesting  to  the 
legislature  which  appropriates  money  for  the 
university  the  specific  objects  of  appropria- 


SPENDING  ALL  AVAILABLE  INCOME       29 

tion.  The  legislature  itself  cannot  be  expected 
to  discern  and  contrive  the  wisest  appropria- 
tions for  the  university,  and  therefore  should 
receive  from  the  trustees  advice  based  on  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  work  already  done 
by  the  university,  and  a  clear  anticipation  of 
the  new  work  it  ought  to  do,  in  order  to  de- 
velop the  intellectual  resources  and  powers  of 
the  entire  population.  In  order  to  perform 
this  function  well,  they  will  need  the  best 
advice  which  presidents,  deans,  faculties,  and 
faculty  committees  can  give  them ;  but  they 
must  finally  take  action  on  their  own  best 
judgment  concerning  the  needs  of  the  univer- 
sity and  the  State. 

.  A  university  should  not  be  carried  on,  like 
a  business  corporation,  with  any  policy  of  lay- 
ing up  undivided  profits,  or  of  setting  aside 
unused  income  for  emergencies  or  future 
needs.  On  the  contrary,  it  should  endeavor 
to  expend  all  its  available  income.  While  it 
should  never  live  beyond  its  means,  it  has  no 
call  to  accumulate  for  the  benefit  of  future 
generations.  For  enlargements,  new  equip- 


30  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

ments,  and  the  occupation  of  new  fields  of 
usefulness,  it  should  rely  on  new  endowments 
or  new  annual  receipts;  or,  if  it  be  a  State 
university,  on  new  appropriations.  In  endeav- 
oring to  use  all  its  proper  income,  it  may 
sometimes  incur  a  deficit ;  but  it  should  forth- 
with take  measures  to  prevent  the  recurrence 
of  such  a  deficit,  since  habitual  deficits,  how- 
ever incurred,  must  be  charged  either  to  past 
endowments  which  ought  to  be  held  unim- 
paired, or  to  future  resources  which  are  only 
hoped  for.  Each  of  these  methods  is  objec- 
tionable in  itself,  and  each  sets  a  bad  example 
to  educational,  charitable,  and  religious  insti- 
tutions. 

From  the  board  of  trustees  issue  the  stat- 
utes which  determine  tenures  of  office  in  the 
university,  the  constitution  and  powers  of  the 
faculties  and  other  academic  bodies,  the  defi- 
nitions of  the  duties  of  the  president,  the 
deans,  and  other  administrative  officers,  the 
division  of  the  academic  year  into  term-time 
and  vacation,  and  the  general  rules  under 
which  libraries  and  scientific  collections  are 


STATUTES  AND  STANDING  VOTES         31 

to  be  used.  The  enactment  of  the  statutes 
which  keep  in  tolerably  stable  form  all  these 
definitions  and  regulations  is  a  weighty  part 
of  the  duty  of  the  trustees.  It  is  by  means  of 
statutes  and  standing  votes  that  the  trustees 
formally  delegate  a  large  part  of  their  powers 
of  management  and  control  to  various  aca- 
demic bodies  and  officers ;  but  in  many  insti- 
tutions custom  or  usage,  their  own  or  imitated, 
has  much  to  do  with  the  distribution  of  powers 
among  the  different  academic  bodies.  It  is 
the  common  custom  for  trustees  to  consign  to 
faculties  the  determination  of  the  require- 
ments for  admission  and  for  the  several  de- 
grees, of  the  methods  and  limits  of  instruc- 
tion, and  of  the  daily  routine  of  duty  for 
students  and  teachers,  the  administration  of 
discipline,  and  the  immediate  supervision  of 
the  conditions  of  the  academic  life.  Trustees 
should  never  interfere  with  matters  once  con- 
signed to  a  faculty  by  statute  or  custom, 
unless  in  the  way  of  inquiry  or  informal  sug- 
gestion, or  exercise  any  powers  delegated  to 
a  faculty.  Such  interference  will  impair  very 


32  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

injuriously  a  faculty's  sense  of  responsibility 
and  its  authority.  Trustees  should  also  be 
careful  not  to  impair  the  due  effect  of  official 
action  on  the  part  of  a  faculty  by  listening 
to  the  private  representations  of  individual 
members  of  the  faculty  who  do  not  agree  with 
the  action  of  the  majority.  In  grave  cases  the 
opinion  of  a  faculty  minority  may  properly  be 
presented  officially  to  the  trustees. 

The  statute  which  defines  the  tenures  of 
office  throughout  the  university  is  of  funda- 
mental importance;  for  it  is  practically  the 
expression  of  a  contract  between  the  univer- 
sity and  its  teachers  and  administrators.  This 
contract  ought  to  provide  for  life-tenures 
after  adequate  periods  of  probation.  Life- 
tenures  in  a  permanent  service  are  by  far  the 
most  economical  and  effective ;  but  they  are 
impossible  in  a  service  which  must  always  be 
kept  in  a  high  state  of  efficiency,  unless  the 
incumbents  have  been  so  well  proved,  that 
nothing  but  bodily  disability,  or  some  similar 
calamity,  can  interfere  with  their  usefulness, 
and  also  unless  a  pension  system  provides  for 


TERM-TIME  AND  VACATION  33 

the  humane  retirement  of  incumbents  whose 
efficiency  is  impaired. 

The  determination  of  the  limits  of  term- 
time  and  vacation  by  statute  necessarily  be- 
longs to  the  trustees  in  a  university ;  because 
all  the  teachers  and  other  officers  of  the  uni- 
versity have  a  direct  personal  interest — not 
necessarily  pecuniary — in  the  amount  of  vaca- 
tion. The  trustees,  in  making  the  division  of 
the  year,  must  consider  not  only  the  interest 
of  the  teachers,  but  that  of  the  students,  and 
the  interests  of  these  two  parties  are  some- 
what divided.  Some  of  the  richer  students 
want  short  terms  for  study  and  long  vacations 
for  purposes  of  pleasure  and  travel;  while 
many  of  the  poorer  students  also  want  long 
vacations  for  the  purpose  of  earning  money  in 
outside  occupations.  On  the  other  hand,  some 
of  the  richer  sort  are  entirely  ready  to  occupy 
a  large  portion  of  the  summer  vacation  with 
reading  and  study ;  and  some  of  the  poorer 
students  find  it  easier  to  earn  money  in  term- 
time  than  in  vacation,  because  they  can  then 
teach  other  students,  and  obtain  a  variety  of 


34  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

employments  at  the  seat  of  the  university  which 
are  not  obtainable  during  the  summer  vacation. 
In  a  country  like  Scotland,  where  many  sons 
of  poor  families  resort  to  the  universities,  the 
amount  of  term-time  during  the  year  will  natu- 
rally be  made  short,  in  order  that  the  student 
may  have  at  least  half  the  year  to  earn  the 
money  which  he  spends  at  the  university  dur- 
ing the  other  half.  In  universities  like  the 
English  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  on  the  other 
hand,  which  are  chiefly  resorted  to  by  the  sons 
of  well-to-do  families,  a  quite  different  motive 
may  determine  short  periods  of  residence  at 
the  university  in  each  academic  year,  and  long 
vacations  and  recesses.  Athletic  and  social 
distractions  from  study  are  urgent  during  resi- 
dence, and  are  the  main  objects  of  unambi- 
tious or  sportive  youth ;  while  serious  students 
find  the  long  vacation  more  available  for  study 
than  the  short  terms  spent  in  residence.  Hence 
in  England  short  terms  and  long  vacations. 
The  American  universities  in  general  require 
residence  for  something  less  than  thirty-seven 
weeks  out  of  the  year,  a  period  of  residence 


CHANGES  IN  UNIVERSITY  VACATIONS     35 

'decidedly  longer  than  that  of  the  European 
universities  in  general.  During  the  nineteenth 
century  the  arrangement  of  terms  and  vaca- 
tions in  the  American  universities  underwent 
many  changes,  because  of  changes  in  the 
habits  of  the  families  from  which  their  stu- 
dents were  derived,  and  in  the  customs  of  the 
trades  and  professions.  Changes  in  the  mode 
of  conducting  country  elementary  schools  also 
brought  about  changes  in  college  vacations. 
Thus,  fifty  years  ago  undergraduates  in  the 
American  colleges  left  college  in  large  num- 
bers about  Thanksgiving  to  teach  country 
schools  during  three  months  of  winter ;  and 
one  of  the  long  vacations  of  the  year  at  the 
colleges  was  made  to  fall  within  this  period. 
With  the  substitution  of  women  teachers  for 
men  in  the  country  schools,  this  practice 
among  collegians  has  disappeared,  and  with  it 
has  gone  the  long  vacation  in  winter. 

University  trustees,  in  considering  the 
division  of  the  academic  year  into  term-time 
and  vacation,  have  also  to  consider  the  value 
of  a  long  vacation  for  the  teachers  of  a  uni- 


36  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

versity,  and  especially  for  those  teachers  who* 
wish  to  give  a  large  portion  of  their  time  to 
literary  or  scientific  labors  which  lie  outside 
of  their  teaching,  though  contributory  to  it. 
The  long  summer  vacation  is  for  many  univer- 
sity officers  the  most  laborious  and  productive 
season  of  the  whole  year,  and  trustees  who 
value  this  sort  of  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
university's  officers  will  be  slow  to  interfere 
with  that  vacation,  even  though  they  recog- 
nize that  in  the  interest  of  the  majority  of  the 
students  a  shorter  vacation  would  be  better. 

The  general  rules  under  which  libraries 
and  scientific  collections  are  to  be  used  are 
subjects  for  careful  consideration  on  the  part 
of  university  trustees.  On  the  one  hand  these 
expensive  collections  can  have  but  one  justifi- 
cation, namely,  that  they  are  constantly  and 
effectively  used ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  need 
to  be  preserved  in  good  condition  for  the 
benefit  of  future  generations  of  students.  The 
problem  of  the  trustees  is  to  lay  down  rules 
which  will  provide  a  safe  middle  way  between 
use  which  tends  towards  destruction  and  se- 


LIBRARIES  AND  COLLECTIONS  37 

curity  which  is  inconsistent  with  use.  The 
tendency  at  the  present  time  among  trustees 
is  to  divide  the  collections  into  two  parts,  one 
part  to  be  preserved  at  the  risk  of  not  being 
so  serviceable  to  the  present  generation  as  it 
might  be,  the  other  to  be  made  as  serviceable 
as  possible  to  the  present  generation,  even  at 
the  risk  of  destruction. 

An  experienced  board  of  university  trus- 
tees will  always  maintain  a  considerate  and 
even  deferential  attitude  towards  the  experts 
whom  they  employ  as  regular  teachers,  occa- 
sional lecturers,  and  permanent  administrators. 
They  stand  to  these  experts  in  an  entirely 
different  relation  from  that  in  which  a  busi- 
ness board  of  directors  stands  towards  its 
employees.  In  the  first  place,  the  trustees  are 
not  themselves  expert  in  any  branch  of  the 
university  teaching,  and  they  are  not  experts 
in  the  policy  or  discipline  of  a  university. 
They  are  completely  dependent  for  the  com- 
petent performance  of  the  university's  main 
work  on  the  attainments  and  the  good-will  of 
the  university  teachers.  Moreover,  the  supply 


38  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

of  competent  teachers  and  investigators  for 
the  service  of  universities  is  ordinarily  scanty 
and  irregular ;  so  that  university  trustees,  who 
seek  all  possible  aids,  often  fail  to  find  men 
well  fitted  to  undertake  the  more  difficult 
functions  of  university  teachers.  On  this  ac- 
count the  trustees  may  be  quite  unable  to 
carry  out  well-made  plans,  and  be  forced  to 
take  up  with  inferior  or  modified  designs. 
Again,  the  advanced  teaching  of  a  university 
cannot  be  obtained  on  a  telegraphic  order. 
It  must  often  be  long  prepared,  through  years 
of  anticipatory  selection,  watching,  and  wait- 
ing. It  is  often  impossible  for  trustees  to  pro- 
cure in  the  market  the  human  article  they 
need,  or  think  they  need.  From  this  state  of 
things  it  results  that  competent  trustees,  who 
are  responsible  for  the  university  and  under- 
stand their  own  situation,  treat  the  scholars 
who  compose  the  university's  staff  with  great 
consideration,  and  try  to  secure  for  them  the 
respect  of  the  entire  community. 

Experience  in  the  management  of  a  farm, 
a  shop,  a  railroad,  a  factory,  or  a  bank  may 


A  TRUE  UNIVERSITY  ORGANIZATION     39 

be  of  some  use  to  the  business  man  called  to 
the  function  of  a  university  trustee ;  but  many 
of  the  things  he  has  learnt  to  value  in  his 
business  experience  he  will  have  to  discard 
absolutely  in  contributing  to  the  management 
of  a  university,  because  they  are  inapplicable. 
Thus,  a  pure  business  man  generally  thinks 
that  he  can  buy  such  service  as  he  needs,  if 
he  is  willing  to  pay  its  price;  and  in  this  view 
he  is  ordinarily  right.  That  conception,  how- 
ever, has  but  a  smah"  place  in  the  management 
of  a  university;  for  money  cannot  buy  the 
best  of  the  services  that  are  really  needed. 
Money  is  not  the  appropriate  reward  for  the 
quick  sympathy,  genuine  good-will,  patience, 
and  comprehensive  learning  which  go  to  the 
making  of  a  first-rate  university  teacher. 

The  trustees  of  the  American  universities 
have  a  difficult  problem  to  solve  in  the  near 
future  in  creating  a  definite  university  or- 
ganization, and  bringing  the  new  organiza- 
tion into  fitting  relations  with  the  secondary 
schools  on  the  one  hand  and  the  professions 
on  the  other.  The  American  universities 


40  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

have  grown  in  a  casual,  agglutinating  way, 
without  any  definite  plan  or  framework  to 
tie  together  the  different  departments  which 
were  successively  created.  They  have  ordina- 
rily started  with  the  somewhat  definite  organi- 
zation called  a  college,  and  around  this  college 
have  grown  up  an  undergraduate  department 
of  applied  science  including  agriculture  and 
engineering,  and  so-called  professional  schools 
of  law,  medicine,  dentistry,  pharmacy,  finance 
or  commerce,  and,  in  a  few  cases,  divinity. 
The  standard  of  admission  to  the  professional 
schools  has  usually  heen  much  lower  than 
the  standard  of  admission  to  the  college;  and 
indeed  in  many  universities  there  have  been 
no  requirements  at  all  for  admission  to  the 
professional  schools;  so  that  anybody  could 
enter  them,  with  or  without  any  preparatory 
education.  Their  students  were  therefore  very 
heterogeneous  in  quality,  and  were,  as  a  rule, 
looked  down  upon  by  the  college  students  who 
were  candidates  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts.  Now  a  group  of  detached,  unrelated 
schools  is  not  a  university;  and  it  is  for  the 


GRADUATE  PROFESSIONAL  SCHOOLS       41 

trustees  of  the  larger  American  institutions  of 
the  higher  education  to  convert  these  groups 
of  schools  into  true  universities.  As  a  matter 
of  history,  the  first  steps  towards  this  reform 
were  taken  by  instituting  courses  of  instruc- 
tion for  the  higher  degrees  in  arts,  such  as 
the  Master's  degree  and  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Philosophy,  admission  to  this  advanced  in- 
struction being  conditioned  on  the  possession 
of  a  Bachelor's  degree. 

The  graduate  schools  of  arts  and  sciences, 
most  of  which  have  been  established  during 
the  past  thirty-five  years,  were  organized  in 
this  way,  and  the  success  and  high  usefulness 
of  these  graduate  schools  indicated  that  the 
method  they  had  used  could  be  applied  to 
other  professional  departments.  All  the  pro- 
fessional schools  of  a  university  ought  to  re- 
quire the  preliminary  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts,  or  of  Science,  for  admission ;  and  only 
when  this  requirement  has  been  successfully 
enforced  will  the  unorganized  group  of  sepa- 
rate departments  which  now  passes  for  a  uni- 
versity in  the  United  States  be  really  converted 


42  UNIVERSITY  TRUSTEES 

into  a  true  university.  This  conversion,  how- 
ever, presents  many  difficulties,  among  which 
not  the  least  is  the  pecuniary  difficulty.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  difficult  piece  of  work  for  the 
trustees  of  a  university  to  undertake ;  and  to 
accomplish  it  well  will  task  both  their  far- 
sightedness and  their  judgment. 

Much  has  been  written  about  the  distinc- 
tion between  a  college  and  a  university.  It  is 
no  wonder  that  public  opinion  has  been  at 
a  loss  on  that  subject,  since  it  has  had  no 
correct  standard  of  university  organization. 
When  the  American  university  is  properly 
organized,  it  will  become  clear  to  the  public 
that  a  college  is  a  place  of  training  for  the 
first  degree  in  arts  or  science  obtainable  at 
about  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  that  a 
university  is  a  place  for  older  students  who 
already  possess  the  preliminary  degree  in  arts 
or  science,  and  are  studying  for  higher  de- 
grees in  large  variety.  Of  course  a  university 
may  or  may  not  carry  on  also  a  college.  This 
change  of  organization  should  be  accompanied 
by  a  change  in  the  common  ideal  of  the  culti- 


AN  HONORABLE  SERVICE  43 

vated  man,  and  of  cultivation  itself.  The  pro- 
fessional students  in  a  university  under  the 
new  regime  will  be,  on  the  average,  decidedly 
the  superiors  in  age  and  cultivation  of  the 
college  students;  because  they  will  be  older 
men,  who  have  already  received  the  college 
training;  and  whatever  may  be  the  subjects 
of  their  advanced  studies,  they  will  all  be  re- 
cognized as  cultivated  men, — and  cultivated 
through  their  professional  studies  quite  as 
much  as  through  their  college  studies.  The 
bread-and-butter  motive  should  not  prevail  in 
a  university's  professional  school  to  any  greater 
extent  than  it  should  prevail  in  a  college.  In 
both  departments  it  is  reasonable  for  the  indi- 
vidual student  to  keep  in  view  the  means  of 
by  and  by  earning  a  livelihood ;  but  in  both 
alike  the  dominant  motive  should  be  the  de- 
sire to  be  serviceable,  and  to  be  well  equipped 
to  give,  and  to  enjoy  giving,  effective  service. 
It  is  obvious  from  this  description  of  the 
functions  and  responsibilities  of  university 
trustees  that  service  on  such  boards  is  in  high 
degree  interesting,  useful,  and  honorable. 


II 


AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING 
BODY  — ALUMNI  INFLUENCE 

THE  trustees  of  an  American  college  or  uni- 
versity, whether  the  institution  be  endowed  or 
tax-supported,  are  as  a  rule  "one  body  corpo- 
rate and  politic  in  deed,  action,  and  name,"  to 
use  the  language  of  the  charter  of  Dartmouth 
College  given  in  1769.  This  one  body  holds 
all  the  property  of  the  institution,  controls  its 
expenditures  and  its  policies,  and  makes  all 
its  laws.  Even  boards  of  directors  for  busi- 
ness corporations  are  generally  less  independ- 
ent and  absolute  than  this  educational  board. 
The  number  of  trustees  is  very  various.  Thus 
at  Dartmouth  College  the  trustees  must  be 
twelve  and  no  more.  The  original  corporators 
of  Brown  University  numbered  forty-seven  per- 
sons; but  the  Corporation  consisted  of  two 
branches, "  to  wit :  that  of  the  Trustees  and  that 
of  the  Fellowship,  with  distinct,  separate,  and 


A  SINGLE  GOVERNING  BOARD  45 

respective  powers,"  the  number  of  the  Trus- 
tees being  thirty-six,  and  that  of  the  Fellows 
twelve,  inclusive  of  the  President,  who  must 
always  be  a  Fellow.  The  charter  of  the  Col- 
legiate School  of  Connecticut,  now  called  Yale 
University,  given  in  October,  1701,  created  a 
body  of  "Trustees,  Partners,  or  Undertakers 
[originally  ten  ministers],  together  with  such 
others  as  they  shall  associate  to  themselves, 
not  exceeding  the  number  of  eleven,  or  at  any 
time  being  less  than  seven."  In  1792  the  Gov- 
ernor, Lieutenant-Governor,  and  six  Senior 
Assistants  in  the  Council  were  made  by  virtue 
of  their  offices  Trustees,  or  Fellows,  of  said 
College;  in  1819  six  Senior  Senators  were 
substituted  for  the  six  Senior  Assistants;  and 
in  1872  six  persons  elected  by  the  graduates 
of  Yale  College  were  substituted  for  the  six 
Senators.  The  constitution  of  Michigan  pro- 
vides for  the  election  by  the  people  of  eight 
Regents  of  the  University,  elected  two  at  a 
time  every  other  year,  so  that  each  Regent 
serves  eight  years.  The  government  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin  is  vested  "in  a 


46    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

Board  of  Regents  to  consist  of  one  member 
from  each  congressional  district,  and  two  from 
the  State  at  large,  at  least  one  of  whom  shall 
be  a  woman,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor." In  addition,  the  State  Superintendent 
of  Instruction  and  the  President  of  the  Uni- 
versity are  ex-officio  members  of  the  board. 
The  term  of  office  of  the  appointed  Regents  is 
three  years.  The  government  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  California  is  vested  in  an  incorporated 
board  called  "  The  Regents  of  the  University 
of  California."  This  board  consists  of  twenty- 
two  members,  six  ex-officio,  eight  appointed 
by  the  Governor  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate, 
one  every  other  year  for  a  term  of  sixteen 
years,  and  eight  chosen  by  the  official  and  ap- 
pointed members  who  also  hold  office  for  the 
term  of  sixteen  years,  one  member  going  out  at 
the  end  of  each  successive  two  years.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  term  of  service  in  this  board 
is  long,  and  that  the  renewal  of  membership 
is  gradual.  Since  ex-officio  members  are  rarely 
able  to  give  much  time  or  thought  to  such  a 
trust,  the  control  of  the  university  may  fairly 


CLOSE  COLLEGE  CORPORATIONS          47 

be  said  to  be  in  the  hands  of  sixteen  persons, 
or  a  majority  thereof.  This  board  is  provided 
by  Statute  (Chap.  CCXLIV,  Sect.  16)  with 
an  unusual  sort  of  secretary,  whose  extensive 
duties  and  large  qualifications  are  minutely 
prescribed.  Under  this  statute  the  Secretary  of 
the  Regents  might  easily  become  the  most  im- 
portant official  connected  with  the  university. 

The  board  of  trustees  of  many  endowed 
institutions  fills  its  own  vacancies,  which  is 
never  the  case  in  State-supported  institutions. 
Such  boards  are  close  corporations  indeed.  In 
some  denominational  colleges  and  universities 
the  trustees,  or  a  majority  of  them,  are  selected 
or  appointed  by  denominational  authorities. 
Thus,  in  institutions  under  the  control  of  the 
Methodist  denomination,  a  majority  of  the 
trustees  is  often  chosen  by  a  group  of  Meth- 
odist Conferences. 

However  selected,  chosen,  or  appointed,  the 
members  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  an  Ameri- 
can college  or  university  ordinarily  constitute 
a  single  governing  board  which  is  not  respon- 
sible to  any  affiliated  or  independent  board, 


48    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

and  is  not  obliged  to  procure  the  concurrence 
or  consent  of  any  other  body.  They  therefore 
need  the  steady  influence  of  a  larger  inspect- 
ing and  criticising  body  with  some  concurrent 
powers,  in  order  that  they  may  escape  the 
dangers  of  perpetual  corporations  subject  to 
no  external  control.  When  the  trustees  are 
somewhat  numerous  and  meet  but  rarely,  be- 
cause their  residences  are  widely  separated, 
the  main  body  may  exercise  in  an  imperfect 
•way  this  function  of  inspection  and  control 
over  the  small  executive  committee  to  which 
the  powers  of  the  full  board  are  of  necessity 
delegated;  but  whenever  the  board  of  trustees 
is  of  moderate  number,  not  widely  separated 
as  regards  residence,  and  consequently  dili- 
gent and  active,  it  is  highly  desirable  that  a 
second  and  larger  board  should  be  created  to 
represent  public  educated  opinion,  and  par- 
ticularly the  opinion  of  the  graduates  of  the 
institution.  This  is  especially  the  case  if  the 
board  of  trustees  is  empowered  to  fill  its  own 
vacancies. 

In  this  respect  the  organization  of  Harvard 


HARVARD  BOARD  OF  OVERSEERS         49 

University  is  a  most  fortunate  one;  for  the 
University  possesses  a  second  Board,  called 
the  Overseers,  and  consisting  of  thirty  mem- 
bers, since  1866  elected  by  the  Alumni  in 
groups  of  five  to  serve  six  years,  together  with 
the  President  and  Treasurer  of  the  University 
ex-officio.  Other  institutions  have  endeavored 
to  gain  some  of  the  advantages  which  Harvard 
derives  from  its  Board  of  Overseers  by  con- 
triving the  election  of  some  of  their  trustees 
by  the  Alumni,  or  inventing  some  equivalent 
device;  but  none  of  these  contrivances  are  as 
effective  as  the  Harvard  Board.  The  composi- 
tion of  that  admirable  Board  underwent  many 
changes  between  1642 — the  date  of  the  first 
Act  establishing  the  Board — and  1902,  when 
the  legislature  finally  placed  in  the  hands  of 
"the  President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege and  the  Board  of  Overseers  of  said  Col- 
lege" the  power  to  determine  "what  degrees 
issued  by  said  College  .  .  .  shall  entitle  the 
recipients  thereof  to  vote  for  Overseers";  but 
for  more  than  forty  years,  since  1866,  its 
statutory  constitution  has  left  nothing  to 


50    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

desire.  By  statute  and  custom  the  Board  of 
Overseers  must  give  consent  to  the  election  of 
every  member  of  the  Corporation, — the  short 
title  of  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard 
College,  —  of  every  professor,  assistant  pro- 
fessor, preacher  to  the  University,  and  admin- 
istrative officer,  and  of  all  other  officers  of  in- 
struction elected  for  terms  exceeding  one  year. 
They  must  also  act  on  appointments  by  the 
Corporation  of  directors  for  scientific  estab- 
lishments, and  of  librarians.  In  short,  the 
Board  exercises  a  control  over  all  important 
appointments  within  the  University.  It  is  also 
entitled  to  take  concurrent  action  with  the 
President  and  Fellows  on  the  adoption  of  all 
statutes  or  standing  votes  affecting  general 
policies  of  the  University,  and  on  the  confer- 
ring of  all  degrees. 

The  influence  on  the  President  and  Fellows 
of  this  constant  need  to  procure  the  consent  of 
the  Board  of  Overseers  is  strong.  Every  ap- 
pointment and  every  statute  or  standing  vote 
must  be  capable  of  defense  before  the  Over- 
seers. The  fact  that  the  consent  of  the  Board 


HARVARD  BOARD  OF  OVERSEERS         61 

of  Overseers  is  almost  invariably  given  to  the 
action  of  the  President  and  Fellows  does  not 
diminish  this  influence,  or  have  any  tendency 
to  prove  that  the  influence  does  not  exist.  The 
President  and  Fellows  always  feel  that  they 
must  be  able  to  make  a  strong  case  before 
the  Board  of  Overseers  in  favor  of  any  action 
which  requires  the  consent  of  that  Board;  and 
this  feeling  is  a  very  wholesome  one  in  a  small 
board  the  members  of  which  are  elected  for 
life.  The  Board  of  Overseers  may  fairly  be 
said  to  represent  public  educated  opinion  and 
the  opinion  of  the  Alumni  on  all  questions  of 
University  policy.  For  many  years  the  Massa- 
chusetts Statutes  required  members  of  the 
Board  of  Overseers  to  be  "all  inhabitants 
within  the  State " ;  but  in  1880  this  restric- 
tion was  repealed;  so  that  members  of  the 
Board  have  for  twenty-eight  years  been  eligi- 
ble from  any  part  of  the  country,  or,  indeed, 
from  any  part  of  the  world.  The  Board  meets 
ordinarily  nine  or  ten  times  a  year;  but  in 
spite  of  the  frequency  of  the  meetings,  it  has 
been  found  possible  to  take  members  from 


62    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

distant  parts  of  the  country.  The  existence  of 
the  Board  of  Overseers  greatly  increases  pub- 
lic confidence  in  the  management  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  Fellows,  and  this  confidence  extends 
to  all  the  functions  of  the  President  and  Fel- 
lows, financial  as  well  as  educational. 

Besides  this  right  of  consenting  to  or  dis- 
senting from  all  important  actions  taken  by 
the  President  and  Fellows,  the  Overseers  exer- 
cise freely  the  right  of  inspecting,  or  examining 
the  condition  of,  any  and  every  department  of 
the  University.  This  inspection  or  examina- 
tion is  conducted  by  committees  appointed 
by  the  Board,  and  these  committees  may  or 
may  not  consist,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Board.  All  the  instruction  given  in 
the  University  is  thus  liable  to  be  inspected 
by  visiting  committees  appointed  by  the  Over- 
seers ;  and  the  reports  of  these  committees  are 
made  public,  or  kept  private,  at  the  discretion 
of  the  Board.  The  nature  of  the  instruction  in 
any  department,  and  of  the  examinations  held 
by  any  department,  may  thus  be  made  the 
subject  of  a  public  report.  It  is  of  course  diffi- 


HARVARD  VISITING  COMMITTEES         53 

cult  to  obtain  for  all  departments  men,  not 
members  of  the  University's  staff,  who  are 
competent  to  criticise  the  work  of  university 
teachers,  particularly  as  the  service  of  the 
Overseers  themselves,  and  of  all  the  commit- 
tees that  they  appoint,  is  gratuitous.  Neverthe- 
less, this  function  of  inspection  or  examination 
has  a  high  value,  now  in  one  department  of 
the  University  and  now  in  another.  It  checks 
eccentricities,  brings  out  defects,  and  signal- 
izes merits.  The  Visiting  Committees  have  au- 
thority to  examine  all  question-papers  prepared 
for  university  examinations,  and  all  the  papers 
written  by  students  in  answering  those  ques- 
tions. Since  at  Harvard,  as  at  the  American 
universities  in  general,  the  instructors  have 
charge  of  the  examinations  in  the  courses  they 
have  themselves  given,  this  disinterested  judg- 
ment of  outsiders  on  the  question-papers  and 
answer-papers  may  at  any  time  have  a  high 
value. 

The  Overseers'  Visiting  Committees  have, 
however,  a  function  which  is  more  effective 
than  that  of  criticism.  In  inquiring  into  the 


54    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

condition  of  any  department — as  of  French, 
Physics,  Zoology,   Law,  or   Medicine  —  the 
Committee  naturally  puts  itself  into  contact 
with  the  teachers  of  the  department,  confers 
with  them,  and  learns  from  them  the  needs 
and   hopes  of   the   department   as  a  whole. 
These  needs  the  Committee,  as  an  impartial 
body  appointed  for  purposes  of  inquiry  and 
examination,  can  put  before  the  President  and 
Fellows,  the  other  academic  bodies,  and  the 
public  much  more  effectively  than  the  teachers 
themselves  can.  Thus  the  Visiting  Committees 
become  instrumentalities  for  cooperating  with 
the  departments  in  raising  money  to   meet 
urgent  needs,  or  make  improvements.  In  an 
endowed  institution  the  cooperation  of  such 
Committees  in  giving  publicity  to  needs  and 
procuring  the  means  of  meeting  the  needs  is 
of  great  value.  Over  and  over  again  the  Vis- 
iting Committees  of  the  Harvard  Board  of 
Overseers — now  in  one  department  and  now 
in   another  —  have   procured   additional   re- 
sources for  the  University,  —  sometimes  by 
contributing  themselves,  but  more  frequently 


HARVARD  VISITING  COMMITTEES         65 

by  calling  upon  public-spirited  persons  known 
to  be  interested  in  the  objects  the  Commit- 
tees were  trying  to  promote.  The  Visiting 
Committees  thus  enlarge  the  circle  of  Har- 
vard's benefactors,  and  place  in  the  hands 
of  the  President  and  Fellows  new  resources, 
sometimes  to  be  expended  for  immediate 
needs,  and  sometimes  to  be  funded  as  per- 
manent endowments.  At  Harvard  there  were 
forty-eight  such  Visiting  Committees  of  the 
Board  of  Overseers  during  the  year  1906-07, 
two  Committees  having  three  members,  sev- 
eral having  four,  and  the  larger  Committees 
numbering  from  nine  to  eleven  members. 
The  members  of  the  Committees  generally 
have  their  interest  in  some  department  of  the 
University's  work  much  quickened,  and  this 
quickened  interest  they  diffuse,  each  in  his 
own  circle  of  acquaintances ;  so  that  there  re- 
sults a  large  body  of  persons  who  have  some 
exact  knowledge  of  the  University's  work  and 
needs,  and  are  interested  in  supporting  the 
University  in  every  way.  This  system  at  Har- 
vard is  an  outgrowth  of  an  ancient  practice 


56    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

of  the  Board  of  Overseers  to  appoint  commit- 
tees to  attend  the  oral  examinations  of  the 
four  classes  in  Harvard  College  held  twice  a 
year,  at  the  end  of  each  of  the  two  terms. 
When  the  periodical  examinations  ceased  to 
be  oral,  these  semi-annual  visits  from  commit- 
tees of  the  Board  of  Overseers  were  discon- 
tinued, and  the  present  system  was  gradually 
developed  as  a  substitute.  By  1881-82,  fifteen 
years  after  members  of  the  Board  of  Over- 
seers began  to  be  chosen  by  the  Alumni,  the 
present  system  was  well  under  way.  It  has, 
however,  been  continuously  enlarged  and  im- 
proved. It  is  primarily  an  admirable  means  of 
publicity,  and  therefore  affords  protection  not 
only  against  errors  or  abuses  in  administration 
and  instruction,  but  against  indifference  and 
sluggishness  on  the  part  of  the  administration, 
or  of  any  of  the  academic  bodies  or  officials 
who  exercise  delegated  powers.  Since  a  uni- 
versity inevitably  tends  to  undue  conservatism, 
a  friendly  criticising,  probing,  and  stimulating 
agency  can  be  very  useful  to  it.  The  organi- 
zation implies  the  existence  within  easy  reach 


HARVARD  BOARD  OF  OVERSEERS         67 

of  the  University  of  a  large  community  in 
which  the  higher  education  has  long  been  well 
established,  and  public  spirit  and  constructive 
benevolence  towards  education  are  held  in 
high  honor. 

It  is  a  grave  problem  how  to  get  the  advan- 
tages of  the  Harvard  system  in  a  university 
which  has  but  one  governing  body,  and  that 
a  large  one  meeting  infrequently.  Something 
can  be  done  by  small  sub-committees  of  this 
large  body;  but  unless  many  of  the  trustees 
are  elected  by  the  Alumni,  these  sub-commit- 
tees will  not  be  believed  to  represent  Alumni 
opinion.  Any  board  of  trustees  might  organize 
visiting  committees  analogous  to  the  Harvard 
Committees ;  but  committees  so  selected  could 
hardly  command  the  same  confidence  as  critics 
and  inspectors  which  the  Harvard  Committees, 
appointed  by  a  separate  body  whose  primary 
duty  is  supervision,  can  reasonably  command. 

The  influence  of  the  Harvard  Board  of 
Overseers  is  not  exerted  through  criticism  and 
inquiry  only.  Their  action  has  sometimes  been 
constructive  in  a  high  degree.  Thus  in  1766 


68    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

it  was  the  Board  of  Overseers,  and  not  the 
President  and  Fellows,  that  accomplished  the 
great  reform  of  making  the  college  instruc- 
tion departmental  by  subject.  Before  that 
date  one  tutor  had  been  assigned  to  each  enter- 
ing class,  and  had  taught  that  class  in  all  its 
subjects  for  four  years.  At  the  instance  of 
the  Board  of  Overseers,  each  tutor  thereafter 
taught  the  same  subject,  or  kindred  subjects, 
to  all  the  four  classes.  The  president  and  the 
three  professors  of  that  day  had  already  dealt 
with  their  several  subjects  before  each  suc- 
cessive class ;  so  that  all  the  instruction  in  the 
College  became  from  that  date  departmental. 
This  reform  was  as  fundamental  as  the  similar 
reform  now,  made  in  a  high  school  or  acad- 
emy. In  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  it  was  the  Board  of  Overseers  that 
planted  the  seeds  of  the  elective  system,  which 
was  to  have  but  a  feeble  growth  for  forty 
years.  It  survived,  however,  and  then  throve 
and  blossomed.  Again,  it  was  the  Board  of 
Overseers  that,  in  1826,  ordered  that  the 
president  of  the  University  should  make  to 


CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK  OF  THE  OVERSEERS    69 

them  an  annual  report  accompanied  by  a  com- 
plete treasurer's  statement,  the  report  to  cover 
all  important  acts  and  events  for  the  year, 
together  with  remarks  on  the  state  of  the  in- 
stitution, and  on  the  measures  recommended 
for  its  improvement.  This  report  was  ordered 
to  be  printed  and  laid  before  the  members  of 
the  Board  at  the  stated  meeting  in  January. 
This  order  was  a  piece  of  first-rate  construc- 
tive legislation,  and  has  been  obeyed  to  this 
day  with  good  results  to  Harvard  University 
and  American  education  in  general;  for  the 
president's  annual  report  to  the  Overseers  has 
always  described  frankly  and  completely  the 
state  of  the  institution,  its  defects  and  merits, 
the  results  of  its  experiments,  its  progress,  and 
its  needs.  In  so  doing,  it  has  put  the  experi- 
ence of  Harvard  University  at  the  service 
of  all  other  institutions.  Again,  in  the  year 
1866-67,  the  Board  of  Overseers,  after  a  long 
interchange  of  divergent  views  between  the 
President  and  Fellows  and  the  Board,  suc- 
ceeded in  introducing  an  important  change  in 
the  distribution  of  the  income  of  the  general 


60    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

investments  of  the  University  among  the  funds 
belonging  to  the  College  on  the  one  hand,  and 
to  the  professional  departments  on  the  other. 
The  President  and  Fellows  had  long  been  in 
the  habit  of  allowing  5%  on  the  funds  belong- 
ing to  the  non-College  departments,  and  ap- 
propriating to  the  College  the  rest  of  the 
income  of  the  general  investments.  The  Board 
of  Overseers  procured  the  distribution  of  the 
average  income  of  the  general  investments  to 
all  the  funds  held  by  the  President  and  Fel- 
lows, after  reserving  a  moderate  allowance  for 
the  expenses  incurred  in  the  care  and  manage- 
ment of  the  funds.  This  measure,  which  was 
not  welcome  to  the  President  and  Fellows  of 
the  day,  has  turned  out  to  be  a  very  wise  one. 
It  has  been  highly  satisfactory  to  benefactors, 
has  prevented  the  creation  of  separate  boards 
of  trustees  for  special  objects  at  the  University, 
and  has  exerted  a  distinctly  unifying  influ- 
ence in  the  whole  University  administration. 
No  more  important  improvements  in  Harvard 
University  have  been  made  in  the  past  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  than  the  four  above 


OVERSEERS  REPRESENT  PUBLIC  OPINION    61 

mentioned,  and  all  four  proceeded  from  the 
Board  of  Overseers. 

A  good  example  of  another  mode  of  action 
of  the  Overseers  is  to  be  found  in  the  aboli- 
tion, in  1886,  of  the  required  attendance  of  the 
students  at  the  religious  exercises  maintained 
by  the  University.  For  nearly  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  attendance  at  numerous  re- 
ligious services  had  been  required  of  all  stu- 
dents in  Harvard  College.  The  two  governing 
boards  came  very  slowly  to  the  abolition  of 
that  requirement.  Beginning  in  1873,  the 
College  Faculty  four  times  declared  that,  in 
their  judgment,  attendance  at  prayers  should 
be  voluntary.  The  students  had  twice  peti- 
tioned that  the  statute  which  prescribed  at- 
tendance be  changed.  The  President  and  Fel- 
lows were  in  favor  of  making  the  change, 
whenever  it  should  appear  that  the  public 
opinion  of  educated  men,  and  particularly  of 
the  Alumni,  would  sanction  it.  For  ascertain- 
ing the  state  of  public  opinion,  the  President 
and  Fellows  relied  on  the  Board  of  Overseers. 
Under  the  guidance  of  a  committee  of  the 


62    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BODY 

Board  of  Overseers,  the  two  governing  boards 
first  made  a  more  impressive  and  interesting 
provision  for  the  conduct  of  religious  services 
in  Appleton  Chapel  than  the  University  had 
ever  had  before.  The  Plummer  Professorship 
(then  vacant)  was  filled,  and  five  preachers  to 
the  University  taken  from  four  denominations 
were  appointed  for  the  term  of  one  year,  the 
appointments  to  be  renewable  indefinitely.  To 
this  board  of  six  ministers  the  conduct  of  the 
Chapel  services  and  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
body  of  students  were  committed,  with  a  large 
discretion  as  to  their  methods  of  action.  This 
board  then  advised  the  Corporation  and  Over- 
seers to  abolish  required  attendance  at  reli- 
gious exercises;  and  the  necessary  change  in 
statutes  was  immediately  made. 

The  first  board  of  preachers  consisted  of 
Edward  Everett  Hale,  Phillips  Brooks,  Alex- 
ander McKenzie,  George  A.  Gordon,  and 
Richard  Montague;  but  Mr.  Montague  was 
unable  to  serve  because  of  the  failure  of  his 
health.  Messrs.  Hale  and  Brooks  were  at  the 
time  members  of  the  Board  of  Overseers, 


THE  SELECTION  OF  OVERSEERS  63 

where  they  had  taken  an  influential  part  in 
the  discussion.  In  this  instance  the  time  of 
action  in  a  very  important  matter  was  deter- 
mined by  the  Board  of  Overseers ;  because  the 
President  and  Fellows,  the  Faculty,  the  other 
academic  bodies,  and  the  Alumni  felt  that  the 
Board  fairly  represented  public  opinion  in  all 
its  different  shades,  and  that  it  would  be  safe 
to  make  a  great  change  in  a  matter  which 
easily  stirs  strong  sentiments  and  passions, 
whenever  the  Board  of  Overseers  were  clearly 
in  favor  of  making  it. 

The  meetings  of  the  Board  give  opportu- 
nity for  able  men  engaged  in  different  pro- 
fessions to  give  utterance  to  their  ideas  on 
education  in  general,  or  on  some  special  edu- 
cational topic  which  has  interested  them.  The 
Alumni,  who  elect  the  Board,  naturally  select 
men  of  letters  or  science,  and  men  eminent  in 
the  learned  or  scientific  professions  or  in  busi- 
ness, who  have  shown  public  spirit,  and  devo- 
tion to  the  interests  of  the  University,  and 
of  the  higher  education  in  general.  A  Board 
so  selected  is  naturally  capable  of  improving 


64    AN  INSPECTING  AND  CONSENTING  BOUl 

sometimes  the  measures  which  come  to  them 
from  the  Corporation.  Their  rules  and  habits 
prevent  hasty  action,  and  often  provide  for  an 
examination  by  a  committee  of  the  measures 
laid  before  them.  They  save  the  University 
from  making  changes  which,  although  pro- 
mising and  even  of  demonstrated  merit,  are 
nevertheless  too  much  in  advance  of  public 
opinion.  When  the  President  and  Fellows,  led 
by  the  Faculties,  are  too  rapid  or  too  experi- 
mental in  their  action,  the  Board  of  Overseers 
will  serve  as  a  brake ;  but  if  the  President  and 
Fellows  become  inert  or  too  conservative,  the 
Board  of  Overseers  will  provide  the  needed 
stimulation. 

On  the  whole,  the  services  of  the  Board  of 
Overseers  to  Harvard  University  are  so  varied 
and  so  great  as  to  suggest  strongly  the  wis- 
dom of  procuring  some  analogous  boards  for 
purposes  of  inspection,  review,  criticism,  and 
support  in  all  other  American  institutions 
of  the  higher  education.  Indeed,  the  history 
of  the  Harvard  Overseers  suggests  that  simi- 
lar boards  to  inspect,  make  criticisms  and 


ADVICE  AND  SUPPORT  FROM  GRADUATES    65 

suggestions,  and  procure  publicity  would  be 
useful  additions  to  the  boards  of  directors 
which  manage  business  corporations,  and  to 
one-chambered  municipal  governments  or  com- 
missions. 

The  American  colleges  and  universities  re- 
ceive a  deal  of  valuable  advice  and  assistance 
from  their  graduates,  not  only  from  individu- 
als, but  from  the  numerous  organizations  of 
the  graduates.  These  organizations  are  all  the 
more  interesting,  because  they  are  of  purely 
American  growth,  being  a  natural  adaptation 
of  democratic  principles  to  educational  insti- 
tutions, and  a  vigorous  expression  of  the 
American  faith  in  education  of  all  grades  as 
the  best  means  of  promoting  wise  democratic 
government,  industrial  efficiency,  and  public 
happiness.  As  active  organizations  they  have 
nearly  all  been  created  within  the  last  fifty 
years. 

The  first  organization  to  attain  real  effi- 
ciency was  the  permanent  organization  of  what 
is  called  a  college  Class,  that  is,  the  group  of 


66  ALUMNI  ORGANIZATIONS 

men  who  took  the  first  degree  in  arts  or  science 
in  the  same  year.  This  Class  organization  is 
now  maintained  not  only  for  social  purposes, 
but  as  a  group  of  men  who  distinctly  propose 
to  befriend  and  support  each  other  in  every 
practicable  way  throughout  life,  and  who  also 
intend,  as  a  group,  to  befriend  and  support 
the  college  or  university  at  which  they  took 
their  first  degree.  Every  Class  maintains  a 
standing  committee  and  a  secretary  and  treas- 
urer. At  or  near  graduation  they  raise  a  fund 
the  income  of  which  is  to  be  used  for  future 
festivities  and  other  Class  expenses,  and  is  to 
be  made  over  to  the  college  for  some  good 
purpose  when  the  Class  becomes  extinct.  When 
general  subscriptions  are  undertaken  for  the 
benefit  of  their  college,  every  Class  organiza- 
tion takes  part  in  the  effort,  and  all  the  Classes 
vie  with  each  other  in  making  contributions. 
At  Harvard  College,  it  is  the  custom  for  each 
Class,  at  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  its 
graduation,  to  make  a  considerable  gift  to  the 
College  ($100,000  or  more)  for  an  object  se- 
lected by  the  Class.  Every  Class  tabulates  the 


THE  COLLEGE  CLASS  67 

vital  statistics  of  the  whole  group,  including 
the  dates  of  marriage,  births  of  children,  and 
deaths  of  members  and  of  their  children,  and 
also  a  record  of  the  career  of  each  member  of 
the  Class.  Many  Classes  keep  these  records  for 
all  the  men  who  have  ever  been  members  of 
the  Class,  whether  they  graduated  or  not.  As 
the  Harvard  graduating  Classes  have  lately 
increased  much  in  size,  the  labor  of  keeping 
these  records,  and  printing  them  every  three 
or  five  years,  has  become  too  great  for  the 
Class  Secretary  —  presumably  a  busy  man  — 
to  perform ;  so  that  it  has  become  the  custom 
for  the  Class  officers  to  hire  an  expert  to  pre- 
pare the  vital  statistics  of  the  Class.  At  the 
Commencement  season  every  Class  holds  a 
social  meeting,  and  on  the  third,  sixth,  tenth, 
and  every  later  quinquennial  anniversary  of 
graduation,  special  festivities  are  held,  particu- 
larly on  the  twenty-fifth  and  fiftieth  anniver- 
saries. At  Harvard  the  wives  and  children  of 
members  attend  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary, 
and  the  celebration  lasts  for  several  days.  To 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  children  and  grand- 


68  ALUMNI  ORGANIZATIONS 

children  are  invited ;  and,  moreover,  the  Class 
just  fifty  years  out  of  College  entertains  the 
members  of  all  older  Classes  who  come  to  Com- 
mencement. As  each  Class  grows  older,  the 
surviving  members  are  drawn  nearer  together, 
and  the  more  interesting  becomes  the  compari- 
son of  careers,  experiences,  achievements,  and 
services.  Several  Harvard  Classes  have  under- 
taken to  make  photographic  albums  in  which 
the  portrait  of  each  member  at  graduation 
faces  the  portrait  of  the  same  person  forty  or 
more  years  later,  if  he  has  survived  so  long. 
These  documents  are  extraordinarily  optimis- 
tic, the  comparison  of  the  faces  at  twenty-two 
or  twenty-three  with  the  faces  at  sixty-two  or 
sixty-three  offering  convincing  evidence  that 
educated  men's  experience  of  life  develops  both 
capacity  and  character  to  an  extraordinary 
degree. 

The  vital  statistics  of  the  American  College 
Classes,  as  they  accumulate,  will  supply  to  the 
statistician  a  large  body  of  interesting  materi- 
als ;  the  photographic  albums  will  demonstrate 
the  continuous  and  prolonged  good  effect  of 


ALUMNI  ASSOCIATIONS  69 

an  education  which  occupies  from  a  quarter  to 
a  third  of  the  entire  span  of  life ;  and  the  re- 
cords of  the  careers  of  the  graduates  will  sup- 
ply the  best  possible  evidence  of  the  efficiency 
and  usef  ulness  of  the  institution  at  which  they 
were  trained.  All  these  Class  activities  are 
highly  desirable  in  all  colleges  and  universi- 
ties, and  with  appropriate  modifications  are 
universally  practicable. 

Next  to  the  Class  organization  comes  the 
organization  of  the  association  which  embraces 
all  the  Alumni  of  a  college,  that  is,  all  the  men 
who  took  their  first  degree  of  arts  and  science 
at  the  institution,  some  of  whom  may  take  a 
higher  degree  or  degrees  in  arts  and  sciences, 
or  a  professional  degree.  It  has  been  the  cus- 
tom at  Harvard,  as  at  other  American  institu- 
tions, for  the  graduates  of  the  professional 
schools  to  maintain  Alumni  associations  of 
their  own,  as,  for  instance,  an  organization  of 
all  graduates  and  students  of  the  Law  School ; 
so  that  four,  five,  or  more  Alumni  associations 
may  be  created  from  the  graduates  in  the 
different  departments  of  the  same  university. 


70  ALUMNI  ASSOCIATIONS 

The  objects  of  all  these  Alumni  associations 
are,  however,  essentially  the  same.  They  keep 
in  touch  with  all  Alumni  of  the  department 
whose  name  they  bear,  keep  their  addresses, 
and  prepare  lists  showing  the  geographical 
distribution  of  the  Alumni  by  states  and  cities. 
At  a  large  university  which  graduates  many 
hundred  men  each  year,  it  is  a  difficult  task  to 
keep  these  address-lists  valid.  A  small  number 
of  men  fail  to  communicate  with  the  secretary 
of  the  association  to  which  they  ought  to  be- 
long, and  after  a  time  are  lost  to  view.  The 
address-lists  serve  several  purposes.  In  the  first 
place  they  enable  the  officers  of  the  association 
to  keep  in  communication  with  the  men  whose 
addresses  are  recorded.  Secondly,  they  enable 
the  administrative  officers  of  the  university  to 
keep  graduates  of  the  university  in  all  depart- 
ments supplied  with  printed  information  con- 
cerning the  growth  of  the  university,  the 
changes  in  its  methods,  and  the  additions  to 
its  resources.  Thirdly,  the  geographical  lists 
enable  the  graduates  of  any  college  who  have 
settled  in  any  particular  district  or  region  of 


GATHERINGS  AT  COMMENCEMENT        71 

the  country  to  find  each  other  out,  and  come 
together. 

The  various  Alumni  associations  at  Harvard 
University  recognize  early,  and  then  help  to 
bring  to  public  knowledge,  improvements  in 
their  several  Departments,  as  well  as  needs, 
and  they  then  confirm  and  settle  the  educa- 
tional changes  by  embodying  their  results  in 
their  own  constitutions  and  modes  of  social 
action.  At  Commencement  time  most  of  them 
hold  meetings  which  bring  together  large  bod- 
ies of  professional  men  interested  not  only  in 
meeting  each  other,  but  in  promoting  the  wel- 
fare of  their  several  Departments,  and  in  up- 
holding and  advancing  the  ethical  standards  of 
their  several  callings.  The  gathering  at  Com- 
mencement of  the  Association  of  the  Alumni 
of  Harvard  College,  which  now  includes  grad- 
uates of  the  Scientific  School  and  holders  of 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  or  Science  and 
of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  or  Science,  is  always 
a  noteworthy  gathering,  which  by  its  public 
proceedings  and  its  hospitalities  to  distin- 
guished guests  adds  to  the  dignity  and  prestige 


72  ALUMNI  ASSOCIATIONS 

of  the  University.  This  association  now  main- 
tains a  paid  secretary  with  an  office  and  staff 
in  the  business  centre  of  Boston,  in  order  to 
be  of  service  to  visiting  Alumni,  in  both  busi- 
ness and  social  ways.  This  new  provision  is  an 
outcome  of  the  democratic  and  national  qual- 
ity of  the  University,  and  of  the  distribution  of 
the  residences  of  the  Alumni  over  the  whole 
country,  and  over  great  areas  beyond.  It  marks 
also  the  purpose  of  the  Alumni  to  cooperate 
with  each  other  throughout  life  in  the  pro- 
motion of  the  interests  of  the  University,  of 
higher  education,  and  of  public  serviceableness 
of  all  sorts. 

The  next  form  of  organization  is  the  local 
club,  composed  of  the  graduates  of  a  single 
institution  who  live  in  one  place,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, of  the  graduates  of  Harvard,  or  Dart- 
mouth, or  Michigan,  living  in  or  near  New 
York  City,  or  in  or  near  Chicago,  or  in  the 
State  of  Kentucky,  or  in  the  State  of  Califor- 
nia. These  local  organizations  can  exert  a 
strong  influence  in  favor  of  the  university  with 
which  its  members  were  connected,  provided 


LOCAL    COLLEGE  CLUBS  73 

that  they  prove  to  be  possessed  of  enthusiasm, 
mutual  good-will,  and  public  spirit.  They  can 
add  to  the  security  and  happiness  of  the  recent 
graduates  who  flock  year  by  year  to  the  great 
cities.  They  can  easily  promote  the  interests 
of  the  universities  to  which  they  are  grateful 
by  instituting  scholarships  at  the  college  or 
university  of  their  love,  for  which  scholarships 
young  men  from  the  locality  which  the  club 
represents  have  a  preference.  Such  clubs  can 
also  debate  actively  new  policies  which  are 
under  discussion  at  their  college  or  university, 
and  express  their  opinions  thereon  by  resolu- 
tion adopted  in  public  meetings  after  discus- 
sion. Their  members  can  inspire  each  other  to 
rendering  good  public  service  in  the  municipal, 
state,  or  national  administrations,  and  to  ser- 
viceableness  to  the  communities  in  which  they 
live.  The  local  clubs  can  be  effective  in  re- 
cruiting the  colleges  or  universities  to  which 
they  are  severally  attached,  by  endeavoring  to 
improve  the  programmes  of  the  best  secondary 
schools  in  their  neighborhood,  and  taking  an 
interest  in  the  bright  pupils  of  those  schools. 


74        ASSOCIATION  OF  HARVARD  CLUBS 

They  can  also  give  information  about  the 
terms  of  admission  and  the  necessary  expenses 
at  their  several  colleges.  Among  the  members 
of  these  local  clubs  the  diversity  of  age  is  very 
great  —  all  the  way  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
three  up  to  seventy  to  eighty  —  a  fact  which 
sometimes  makes  their  social  meetings  rather 
hard  to  conduct  in  an  enjoyable  way  ;  yet  this 
very  diversity  of  age  contributes  much  to  the 
good  influence  of  the  clubs.  The  achievements 
of  the  elders  inspire  the  juniors,  and  the  older 
men  get  interested  in  the  younger,  and  help 
them  on  by  advice  and  influence. 

A  considerable  number  of  Harvard  Clubs, 
most  of  which  are  situated  between  the  Al- 
leghanies  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  have 
united  in  an  Association  of  Harvard  Clubs 
which  holds  large,  animated,  annual  meetings 
by  delegates,  at  which  college  policies  are  dis- 
cussed, the  condition  and  prospects  of  the 
various  clubs  are  compared,  and  desirable 
candidates  for  election  to  the  Board  of  Over- 
seers are  mentioned  and  discussed  in  private. 
At  these  representative  meetings  of  Harvard 


ADDRESS-LISTS  OF  LIVING  ALUMNI       75 

Alumni  gathered  from  a  large  area,  officers 
and  active  friends  of  the  University  have  an 
opportunity  to  be  heard. 

The  university  administration  itself  can  as- 
sist in  the  maintenance  of  these  organizations 
of  its  Alumni  by  publishing  periodically  the 
catalogue  of  all  its  graduates  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  a  list  of  the  present  addresses  of  all 
living  Alumni.  Every  American  college  or  uni- 
versity performs  the  first  function  ;  but  com- 
paratively few  perform  the  second,  although 
the  second  is  the  more  effective  for  promoting 
the  influence  and  increasing  the  resources  of 
a  university.  Some  institutions  have  refrained 
from  issuing  such  a  list,  or  delayed  so  doing, 
for  fear  that  these  address-lists,  if  printed, 
would  be  used  in  an  annoying  way  by  diligent 
advertisers  through  circulars  and  letters.  The 
demonstrated  usefulness  of  the  lists  for  right- 
ful purposes  has,  however,  overcome  this  appre- 
hension. 

The  natural  interest  of  older  Alumni  in  help- 
ing the  younger  is  now  utilized  in  a  systematic 
way  by  colleges  and  universities  which  main- 


76  AN  APPOINTMENTS  OFFICE 

tain  offices  devoted  to  securing  appointments 
and  promotions  for  their  graduates.  This  very 
useful  sort  of  bureau  was  first  copied  by  Har- 
vard University  from  Oxford  University,  and 
thence  spread  into  other  American  institutions. 
The  method  is  not  yet  fully  comprehended 
among  American  college  graduates,  but  it  is 
so  natural  and  helpful  a  method  that  it  is  sure 
to  become  general.  At  first  the  profession 
served  by  the  Harvard  Appointments  Office 
was  almost  exclusively  that  of  teaching ;  but 
in  a  few  years  the  work  of  the  office  came  to 
cover  a  great  variety  of  professions  including 
business.  The  same  office  can  readily  provide 
various  employments  for  undergraduates,  and 
so  make  easier  the  successful  passage  through 
college  of  young  men  of  limited  means.  Both 
these  functions  are  obviously  democratic  in  a 
high  degree.  They  enable  well-educated  young 
men  who  have  neither  money  nor  helpful 
family  connections  to  obtain  high-grade  em- 
ployments, and  rapid  promotions  therein,  on 
the  strength  of  their  college  records,  and  with 
the  help  of  the  acquaintances  they  made  in 


UNIVERSITY  PUBLICATIONS  77 

college.  They  are  often  equally  useful,  how- 
ever, to  sons  of  well-to-do  families  who  are 
seeking  employments  with  which  their  older 
friends  have  never  been  connected. 

The  interest  and  affection  of  an  institu- 
tion's graduates  may  be  utilized  to  its  advan- 
tage and  that  of  education  in  general  through 
the  graduates'  support  of  publications  which 
record  all  important  events  at  the  institution, 
commemorate  the  achievements  of  its  grad- 
uates, describe  the  athletic  games  and  contests 
in  which  its  undergraduates  take  part,  and 
give  interesting  accounts  of  the  acquisitions 
at  its  museums,  the  investigations  in  its  labora- 
tories, and  the  publications  of  its  teachers.  At 
Harvard  University,  for  example,  a  Graduates' 
Magazine,  issued  quarterly,  an  official  Gazette, 
and  an  unofficial  Bulletin,  issued  weekly,  are 
maintained  through  the  annual  subscriptions 
of  the  Alumni ;  and  all  three  publications  are 
highly  serviceable  to  the  University. 

Two  comparatively  new  universities  — 
Johns  Hopkins  and  Chicago  —  have  paid  es- 
pecial attention  to  the  issue  by  the  university 


78  ALUMNI  INFLUENCE 

itself  of  learned  publications  in  considerable 
variety  and  volume,  quite  surpassing  in  this 
respect  tbe  earlier  efforts  of  some  older  Ameri- 
can universities.  Such  publications  undoubt- 
edly strengthen  a  university,  and  promote  the 
progress  of  letters  and  science.  Since  they  are 
costly  and  pecuniarily  unremunerative,  they 
are  good  objects  of  endowment. 

Since  many  graduates  of  the  principal 
American  universities  are  connected  with  the 
public  press  as  editors  or  contributors,  univer- 
sity doings  and  events  are  frequently  dealt  with 
by  the  public  press  in  a  friendly  way,  with  the 
distinct  object  of  strengthening  the  universities 
in  the  estimation  of  the  public.  Most  univer- 
sity administrators  have  had  occasion  to  study 
the  problem  of  legitimate  advertising ;  but 
few,  if  any,  have  reached  any  clear  conclusion 
on  this  difficult  subject.  It  is  extremely  doubt- 
ful if  any  of  the  ordinary  forms  of  advertising 
do  a  university  any  good.  It  is  the  general 
reputation  of  a  university,  its  literary  and  sci- 
entific activity,  and  the  achievements  of  its 
graduates  which  commend  it  to  young  men 


THE  DESIRE  FOR  MORE  STUDENTS       79 

and  women,  and  to  their  parents ;  and  these 
things  cannot  be  set  forth  by  the  university 
itself  in  an  ordinary  advertisement.  Public  at- 
tention must,  however,  be  called  to  them  over 
wide  areas  of  country,  since  otherwise  they  will 
not  be  brought  to  the  notice  of  teachers,  super- 
intendents of  schools,  families,  and  the  eligible 
youth ;  hence  the  usefulness  of  the  university 
publications  maintained  by  graduates  or  by 
the  university  itself,  and  of  all  the  descriptive 
contributions  to  the  public  press  by  interesting 
and  interested  writers. 

The  American  universities  have  always  and 
everywhere  been  desirous  of  increasing  the 
number  of  their  students;  and  this  is  a  true 
instinct  of  university  governors  in  a  demo- 
cratic country.  A  university  ought  to  desire  to 
serve  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men,  and 
not  a  single  class  or  but  one  condition.  More- 
over, the  serviceableness  of  the  university  to 
the  community  is  increased  by  increasing  the 
number  of  its  students;  unless,  indeed,  the 
university  admits  students  without  suitable 
preparation,  and  by  so  doing  injures  itself 


80  ALUMNI  INFLUENCE 

and  the  secondary  schools  which  underlie  it.  In 
short,  in  a  democratic  society,  it  is  important 
that  the  university  should  serve  all  classes,  and 
therefore  command  the  respect  and  affection 
of  all  classes,  else  its  pecuniary  resources  will 
not  be  so  secure  as  they  ought  to  be,  and  it 
will  be  difficult  for  it  to  obtain  the  new  re- 
sources which  in  the  changing  condition  of 
the  professions  and  industries  it  will  be  sure 
to  need. 


Ill 

THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

FOB  determining  the  educational  policy  of  a 
seat  of  learning  the  faculties  are  the  most  im- 
portant bodies  in  the  entire  institution.  The 
trustees  being  ordinarily  only  men  of  general 
culture  and  trustworthy  character,  presumably 
interested  more  or  less  in  all  branches  of  learn- 
ing, but  expert  in  none,  it  devolves  upon  the 
faculties  of  the  several  departments  of  a  uni- 
versity to  discern,  recommend,  and  carry  out 
the  educational  policies  of  the  institution. 
Under  ordinary  conditions  a  university  has 
need  of  at  least  five  faculties,  namely,  —  a  fac- 
ulty for  arts  and  sciences,  and  faculties  for 
divinity,  law,  medicine,  and  applied  science. 
There  are  many  examples  of  the  creation  of 
separate  faculties  in  addition  to  these  five,  as, 
for  instance,  a  faculty  for  agriculture,  for  en- 
gineering by  itself,  or  for  the  fine  arts ;  but 
the  sciences  on  which  agriculture  depends  all 


82  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

come  under  the  head  of  applied  science,  just 
as  engineering  does,  and  the  fine  arts  should 
certainly  make  part  of  the  instruction  given 
by  the  faculty  of  arts  and  sciences. 

The  five  indispensable  faculties  are  very 
unlike.  The  faculty  of  arts  and  sciences  in 
a  broadly  developed  university  will  necessarily 
be  large,  and  its  individual  members  will  prob- 
ably have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  only  one 
or  two  out  of  the  numerous  departments  of 
instruction  within  the  faculty.  The  mathe- 
maticians may  often  have  little  sympathy  with, 
or  knowledge  of,  the  language  departments, 
and  will  be  closely  affiliated  only  with  the  de- 
partments of  physics,  chemistry,  mechanics, 
and  astronomy.  The  professors  of  history  will 
probably  know  little,  and  perhaps  care  little, 
about  the  scientific  departments;  but  will 
maintain  rather  close  relations  with  the  de- 
partments of  government  and  economics.  Dis- 
tinguished men  and  admirable  teachers  in  such 
a  faculty  may  easily  know  nothing  to  speak 
of  about  more  than  half  of  the  subjects  of 
instruction  dealt  with  by  their  faculty. 


DIVERSITY  OF  THE  FACULTIES  83 

It  is  very  different  in  the  faculty  of  law, 
which  in  American  universities  devotes  itself 
chiefly  to  court-made  law  and  the  training  of 
practitioners.  There  every  teacher  will  know 
a  great  deal  about  the  work  of  every  other 
teacher  in  the  faculty,  and  have  a  good  under- 
standing of  every  other  teacher's  method  and 
mode  of  thought.  In  that  faculty  it  is  possi- 
ble for  one  professor  to  teach  in  the  course  of 
twenty-five  years  nearly  all  the  subjects  taught 
in  the  school ;  and  it  is  feasible  for  a  professor 
well  advanced  in  life  to  change  his  subjects 
completely,  abandoning  all  the  subjects  he 
has  taught  for  twenty  years  or  more,  and 
taking  up  a  new  set.  A  faculty  of  law  there- 
fore resembles  what  is  called  a  department  in 
the  faculty  of  arts  and  sciences;  for  in  the 
latter  faculty  the  members  of  any  given  de- 
partment are  usually  acquainted  with  the 
whole  field  of  the  department,  and  with  the 
work  of  each  member  of  it.  The  faculty  of 
law  will  have  very  slight  connection  with  any 
other  faculty,  unless,  indeed,  like  a  European 
law  faculty,  it  takes  up  the  general  subject  of 


84  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

jurisprudence,  and  such  topics  as  Roman 
law,  constitutional  law,  and  international  law, 
which  are  appropriate  also  to  the  faculty  of 
arts  and  sciences. 

The  divinity  faculty,  on  the  other  hand, 
unless  unfortunately  devoted  chiefly  to  dog- 
matic denominational  instruction,  will  have 
many  and  intimate  connections  with  the  fac- 
ulty of  arts  and  sciences;  so  much  so,  that 
many  courses  of  instruction  offered  by  profes- 
sors of  divinity  are  just  as  good  for  students 
in  arts  as  they  are  for  students  in  divinity, 
and,  conversely,  many  courses  offered  by  pro- 
fessors in  the  faculty  of  arts  and  sciences  will 
be  perfectly  suitable  for  students  of  divinity, 
such,  for  example,  as  courses  in  philosophy, 
ethics,  history,  sociology,  the  languages  of 
the  scriptures,  and  the  history  of  the  bibli- 
cal peoples  and  of  the  great  religions  of  the 
world. 

The  faculty  of  medicine  has  two  quite  dis- 
tinct functions.  First,  to  train  thoroughly  prac- 
titioners of  medicine  and  surgery ;  secondly,  to 
advance  medical  science  and  preventive  medi- 


DIVERSITY  OF  THE  FACULTIES  85 

cine.  It  is,  however,  almost  exclusively  a  fac- 
ulty of  applied  biology,  although  it  also 
utilizes  fields  of  physics  and  chemistry  which 
lie  outside  of  biology.  This  faculty  is,  of 
course,  intimately  related  to  the  biological  de- 
partments of  the  faculty  of  arts  and  sciences, 
because  pure  zoology  and  botany  make  inces- 
sant contributions  to  applied  biology;  and 
it  has  many  affiliations  with  the  faculty  of 
applied  science;  but  its  connections  with  the 
other  faculties  are  but  slight. 

The  faculty  of  applied  science  has  a  differ- 
ent temper  or  spirit  from  that  which  prevails 
in  the  scientific  departments  of  the  faculty  of 
arts  and  sciences.  It  is  bent  on  teaching  useful 
and  profitable  applications  of  all  the  sciences, 
and  is  apt  to  be  dissatisfied  with  the  modes  of 
instruction  in  the  pure  sciences,  including 
mathematics,  under  the  faculty  of  arts  and 
sciences,  unless  a  great  deal  of  attention  is 
devoted  day  by  day  to  applications  and  to 
practice  in  those  applications. 

It  is  natural  and  desirable  that  members  of 
the  divinity  faculty  and  of  the  faculty  of  ap- 


86  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

plied  science  should  belong  also  to  the  faculty 
of  arts  and  sciences ;  but  members  of  the  fac- 
culties  of  law  and  medicine  rarely  belong  to 
any  other  faculty. 

Two  of  these  five  faculties  are  distinguished 
from  the  others  by  the  fact  that  many  of  their 
members  act  both  as  teachers  and  as  practition- 
ers. Thus  all  the  clinical  teachers  in  a  medical 
school  are  active  practitioners,  —  always  in 
hospitals,  and  often  in  both  hospitals  and 
private  practice.  In  a  school  of  applied  science 
it  is  common  for  the  teachers  to  give  part  of 
their  time  to  commercial  designing  and  con- 
sulting; and  this  mixture  of  functions  is  on 
the  whole  desirable,  because  it  keeps  the  teach- 
ers well  acquainted  with  the  present  conditions 
and  needs  of  the  industries  which  their  teach- 
ing ought  to  serve.  Some  of  the  teachers  in 
a  law  school  may  also  combine  teaching  with 
practice.  This  double  function  resembles  the 
double  function  of  teachers  of  economics, 
government,  and  business  administration,  who 
divide  their  time  between  teaching  and  author- 
ship, or  between  teaching  and  giving  advice 


THE  MEMBERSHIP  OF  A  FACULTY        87 

on  questions  relating  to  the  public  service  or 
industrial  administration.  Indeed,  in  all  depart- 
ments it  is  desirable  that  university  teachers 
keep  in  touch  with  the  outer  world  of  liter- 
ature, science,  and  art,  and  contribute  not 
only  to  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
but  also  to  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among 
the  educated  public  outside  the  confines  of 
the  university. 

To  arrive  at  the  right  rules  to  govern  mem- 
bership of  a  university  faculty  is  obviously  a 
matter  of  the  first  importance.  Shall  the  fac- 
ulty be  composed  of  the  full  professors  in  all 
departments,  or  only  of  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments? Shall  it  include  assistant  professors? 
In  these  days  a  large  part  of  the  instruction 
given  in  well-organized  universities  is  contrib- 
uted by  comparatively  young  men,  who  are 
called  instructors,  tutors,  or  preceptors.  Shall 
they,  too,  be  full  members  of  a  faculty?  If  as- 
sistant professors  and  instructors  be  included, 
they  will  probably  outnumber  the  full  profes- 
sors, and  may  therefore  have  the  prevailing 


88  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

voice  in  determining  the  policy  of  the  univer- 
sity. In  all  well-organized  and  comprehensive 
universities,  the  number  of  instructors,  demon- 
strators, and  assistants  will  greatly  exceed  the 
number  of  professors  and  assistant  professors, 
and  many  of  these  instructors,  demonstrators, 
and  assistants  will  be  men  who  are  on  trial,  or 
who  have  not  yet  determined  to  give  their 
lives  chiefly  to  teaching  and  research.  It  does 
not  seem  reasonable  that  the  policy  of  a  uni- 
versity should  be  determined  by  the  votes  of 
young  men  whose  connection  with  the  uni- 
versity may  be  brief,  and  who  have  not  yet 
decided  to  be  teachers.  Membership  in  a  fac- 
ulty should  therefore  be  limited  to  professors, 
associate  professors,  and  assistant  professors, 
and  to  those  instructors  who  have  received 
appointments  without  limit  of  time. 

Under  this  rule  a  majority  in  any  large 
faculty  of  arts  and  sciences  is  likely  to  consist 
of  comparatively  young  men  who  are  not  sure 
to  advance  to  the  position  of  full  professor. 
It  is  impossible,  even  in  a  large  staff,  that  all 
assistant  professors  should  be  promoted  to 


YOUNG  MEN  DESIRABLE  IN  A  FACULTY    89 

be  professors,  and  that  all  instructors  ap- 
pointed without  limit  of  time  should  be  pro- 
moted to  be  assistant  professors.  Many  of  these 
younger  men  must  necessarily  go  into  the  ser- 
vice of  other  institutions, — schools,  colleges, 
and  universities.  In  this  way  the  influence  of 
the  university  is  extended  and  its  serviceable- 
ness  increased. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  every 
faculty  contain  enough  young  men  to  bring 
forward  in  debate  the  views  and  feelings  of 
the  recent  college  generations.  To  have  its 
administration  fall  chiefly  into  the  hands  of 
elderly  men  is  a  grave  misfortune  for  any  uni- 
versity. There  is  always  good  work  that  vet- 
erans who  retain  their  physical  and  mental 
alertness  can  do;  but  the  control  of  a  univer- 
sity's policy  should  not  be  confided  to  them 
alone.  A  small  college  is  often  in  more  danger 
of  having  an  old  faculty  than  a  large  college, 
for  the  reason  that  some  of  the  teachers  grow 
old  in  their  places  without  having  had  the  op- 
portunity of  going  into  the  service  of  other  in- 
stitutions, and  vacancies  which  might  be  filled 


90  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

by  young  men  occur  but  seldom.  This  diffi- 
culty has  been  relieved  or  removed  of  late  years 
in  some  small  colleges,  because  the  larger  and 
richer  institutions  have  acquired  the  habit  of 
calling  into  their  service  comparatively  young 
men  who  have  proved  their  merit  in  good 
small  colleges.  The  small  college  is  thus  en- 
abled to  recruit  its  faculty  with  a  series  of 
young  men  of  promise,  though  not  of  proved 
performance.  It  is  natural,  but  not  wise,  for  a 
college  or  university  to  recruit  its  faculties 
chiefly  from  its  own  graduates,  —  natural,  be- 
cause these  graduates  are  well  known  to  the 
selecting  authorities,  since  they  have  been 
under  observation  for  years ;  unwise,  because 
breeding  in  and  in  has  grave  dangers  for  a 
university,  as  also  for  technical  schools  and 
naval  and  military  academies. 

A  university  president,  or  a  selecting  com- 
mittee, in  search  of  a  new  professor,  or  of  new 
professors,  has  means  of  forming  a  judgment 
which  are  fairly  trustworthy,  if  patiently  col- 
lected and  sifted.  In  the  first  place,  there  is 
the  candidate's  record  as  a  student  at  his  col- 


CRITERIA  FOR  SELECTING  PROFESSORS     91 

lege  or  university ;  secondly,  his  reputation  as 
a  teacher,  wherever  he  may  have  been  em- 
ployed ;  thirdly,  his  activity  [in  the  learned 
societies  with  which  he  has  been  connected; 
fourthly,  his  productiveness  as  an  investigator 
and  author ;  and  fifthly,  his  general  repute  as 
a  man  of  character  and  influence.  Experienced 
officials  pay  but  scanty  attention  to  testimo- 
nials and  letters  of  recommendation,  partic- 
ularly if  they  have  been  forwarded  through 
the  candidate  or  procured  by  him.  Americans 
are  apt  to  be  too  charitable  and  good-natured 
when  writing  letters  of  recommendation.  They 
are  also  fond  of  superlatives,  and  are  too  apt 
to  deal  only  with  merits,  omitting  defects, 
when  they  write  testimonials  at  the  request  of 
a  candidate.  The  prudent  selecting  official  or 
board  will  therefore  be  careful  about  giving 
weight  to  testimonials,  and  will  greatly  prefer 
to  see  and  talk  with  the  candidate  himself 
face  to  face,  except  in  the  case  of  a  man  whose 
character  and  professional  standing  are  well 
known  and  unquestionable. 

Within  twenty  years  past,  numerous  learned 


92  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

societies  have  arisen  in  the  United  States,  each 
of  which  is  devoted  to  some  special  branch  of 
knowledge,  such  as  the  classics,  pure  mathe- 
matics, engineering,  chemistry,  physics,  archi- 
tecture, landscape  architecture,  forestry,  pedi- 
atrics, and  psychiatry.  To  the  annual  meetings 
of  these  societies  men  come  from  all  parts  of 
the  country,  and  spend  a  few  days  together  in 
earnest  discussion  of  topics  in  which  they  have 
a  common  interest.  The  professor,  or  professors, 
of  these  several  subjects  in  any  one  university 
will  gradually  have  opportunities  to  measure 
and  weigh  all  the  other  active  members  of  the 
same  society,  and  particularly  to  see  and  hear 
the  younger  members  of  the  society.  Much 
valuable  information  is,  therefore,  to  be  ob- 
tained through  these  meetings  of  specialists 
concerning  candidates  for  teachers'  places  in 
the  colleges  and  universities  of  the  country. 
At  these  meetings  much  can  be  learnt  about 
the  personality  of  the  men  who  come  to  them. 
The  whole  meeting  will  learn  that  such  a 
one  is  high-minded  and  winning,  and  a  mas- 
ter of  his  subject,  and  that  such  another 


RECRUITING  A  FACULTY  93 

is  rude  and  unattractive,  though  doubtless 
able. 

In  selecting  university  teachers,  young  or 
old,  it  is  always  a  question  what  sort  of  quali- 
fication should  have  most  influence  on  the  se- 
lection, —  knowledge  of  a  subject,  capacity  to 
expound  it  in  an  interesting  manner,  published 
works,  success  as  an  investigator,  or  the  total 
personality,  including  manners  and  customs, 
temper,  bearing,  and  quickness  of  sympathy. 
In  every  case  there  must  be  a  balancing  of 
these  different  qualities,  which  are  rarely  com- 
bined in  a  single  individual,  and  a  comparison 
with  like  balances  in  other  candidates. 

That  university  is  fortunate  whose  faculties 
have  been  recruited  in  a  considerable  variety 
of  ways;  but  first,  by  advancing  young  men 
who  are  graduates  of  the  institution  through 
all  stages  of  the  service,  beginning  with  the 
lowest.  This  process  should  require  three  or 
four  years  to  be  spent  in  professional  study 
after  receiving  the  Bachelor's  degree;  then 
three  or  four  years  of  service  on  annual  ap- 
pointments to  subordinate  places;  next,  as 


94  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

many  years  in  the  position  of  instructor  ap- 
pointed without  limit  of  time ;  and  next,  five 
or  ten  years  of  service  as  assistant  professor 
before  the  grade  of  full  professor  is  at  last 
attained.  It  may  therefore  take  the  young 
graduate  in  arts  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years 
to  obtain  a  full  professorship,  and  it  will  be 
from  six  to  eight  years  after  his  graduation 
as  a  Bachelor  before  he  gets  an  appointment 
which  commits  him  to  teaching  and  investi- 
gating as  his  life-work.  The  rapidity  of  his 
advancement  will  depend,  first,  on  the  number 
of  vacancies  which  happen  to  occur  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  department  to  which  he 
belongs,  and  secondly,  on  the  chance  that  the 
institution  with  which  he  is  connected  will  make 
a  rapid  growth.  Both  these  favorable  chances 
have  frequently  occurred  together  in  the  expe- 
rience of  young  men  who  have  gone  into  uni- 
versity work  in  the  United  States  within  the 
past  thirty  years. 

The  second  mode  of  recruiting  the  univer- 
sity staff  is  to  discover  and  make  proposals  to 
men  still  young  who  have  distinguished  them- 


RECRUITING  A  FACULTY  95 

selves  in  the  service  of  other  institutions.  The 
larger  institution  does  not  need  to  offer  such 
men  full  professorships.  They  can  ordinarily 
be  obtained  for  assistant  professorships,  or 
even  for  instructorships  without  limit  of  time. 
Such  persons  are  not  taken  at  once  into  the 
permanent  staff  of  the  university  which  invites 
them.  They  receive  what  may  be  called  pro- 
bationary appointments,  and  if  they  do  not 
succeed  in  such  places,  after  a  reasonable  time, 
the  university  is  under  no  obligation  to  con- 
tinue them  in  its  service. 

The  third  mode  of  recruiting  a  faculty  is 
to  invite  to  full  professorships  men  of  proved 
capacity,  industry,  and  intellectual  productive- 
ness. To  such  men  the  university  commits 
itself  for  life. 

All  these  ways  ought  to  be  used  in  recruiting 
any  university  faculty,  and  all  three  are  com- 
monly used  except  in  the  faculty  of  medicine. 
That  faculty  is  affected  by  a  peculiar  and  very 
unfortunate  set  of  considerations  in  regard  to 
its  recruitment.  A  medical  school  is  ordinarily 
situated  at  some  considerable  centre  of  popu- 


96  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

lation,  where  hospitals  have  been  provided  for 
the  treatment  of  the  sick  and  wounded.  These 
hospitals  are  usually  administered  each  by  its 
board  of  trustees,  and  this  board  feels  itself 
to  exist  for  the  hospital  alone,  and  is  distrust- 
ful of  the  claims  of  medical  education  or  of 
medical  and  surgical  research.  The  hospital's 
medical  and  surgical  staff  is  ordinarily  selected 
by  the  board  of  trustees  without  reference 
to  the  capacity  of  its  members  as  teachers. 
They  are  selected  for  unusual  capacity  in  treat- 
ing the  sick  and  wounded.  Nevertheless,  the 
only  men  who  can  fitly  hold  clinical  professor- 
ships in  a  medical  school  are  men  who  have 
access  to  large  hospitals  capable  of  providing 
them  with  the  cases  of  disease  or  injury  which 
must  serve  as  material  for  their  teaching. 
The  medical  school,  desiring  to  appoint  a  pro- 
fessor of  surgery  or  obstetrics,  for  example,  is 
limited  in  its  choice  to  the  men  who  hold  hos- 
pital services  for  at  least  a  part  of  the  year  in 
the  city  or  town  in  which  the  school  is  situated. 
It  is  not  free  to  call  the  most  distinguished 
surgeon  or  obstetrician  that  the  country  con- 


INDUCEMENTS  TO  AN  ACADEMIC  LIFE    97 

tains ;  because  it  cannot  offer  the  newcomer 
a  hospital  service.  This  is  the  reason  that  the 
conduct  of  a  great  hospital  has  become  in 
some  universities  an  indispensable  function 
of  the  faculty  of  medicine,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  conduct  of  a  hospital  is  enormously 
expensive,  and  requires  an  administrative  staff 
quite  distinct  from  that  of  the  medical  school. 
Other  universities  have  had  the  good  fortune 
to  make  serviceable  alliances  with  independent 
bodies  of  hospital  trustees,  who  have  realized 
that  the  advancement  of  medical  and  surgi- 
cal teaching  and  research  is  a  fundamental 
interest  of  hospitals  as  well  as  of  universities 
and  States. 

The  motives  which  induce  suitable  young 
men  to  devote  themselves  to  an  academic  life, 
and  therefore  to  become  members  of  a  college 
or  university  faculty,  are  somewhat  different 
from  those  which  impel  young  men  to  enter 
the  learned  and  scientific  professions  or  to 
seek  business  careers.  Those  professions  and 
business  careers  offer  large  money  prizes, 


98  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

although  the  general  average  of  income  in 
them  is  by  no  means  high.  In  the  United 
States  the  profession  of  teaching  and  scientific 
research  offers  absolutely  no  money  prizes, 
and  the  average  annual  income  of  the  univer- 
sity teacher  is  sure  to  be  moderate.  Germany 
offers  exceptional  payment  to  brilliant  teachers 
of  staple  university  subjects  which  are  indis- 
pensable to  large  groups  of  students,  gives 
generous  pecuniary  rewards  to  successful  in- 
vestigators in  applied  science,  chemical,  physi- 
cal, or  biological,  and  confers  valued  titles 
and  decorations  on  her  leading  scholars  in  all 
departments.  No  such  practices  have  ever  ob- 
tained in  the  United  States,  and  it  is  hard  to 
imagine  how  they  could  be  introduced  under 
the  democratic  regime.  The  young  American 
who  chooses  a  university  career  must  then 
abandon  all  expectation  of  riches,  and  of  the 
sort  of  luxuries  which  only  wealth  can  pro- 
cure. What  he  may  reasonably  expect  is  a  se- 
cure income,  a  life-tenure,  long  vacations,  the 
gratification  of  his  intellectual  tastes,  good 
fellowship  in  study,  teaching,  and  research, 


UNIVERSITY  SALARIES  ARE  SMALL       99 

plenty  of  books,  and  a  dignified  though  simple 
mode  of  life.  To  young  men  who  grow  up  in 
humble  circumstances,  the  probable  income  of 
a  college  professor  sometimes  looks  large ;  but 
to  the  sons  of  well-to-do  families  it  always 
looks  small,  and,  on  the  average,  the  college 
or  university  salary  in  the  United  States  is 
really  small  in  comparison  with  the  intellectual 
outlook  of  the  recipients  and  their  reasonable 
needs.  Undoubtedly  college  and  university 
salaries  need  to  be  raised  above  their  present 
level  in  the  United  States ;  but  it  should  be 
distinctly  understood  that  the  profession  can 
never  be  properly  recruited  by  holding  out 
pecuniary  inducements.  In  drawing  good  men 
from  one  institution  to  another,  the  prevailing 
inducements  are  apt  to  be,  not  increase  of 
salary,  but  wider  companionship,  better  access 
to  books,  better  schools  for  the  children,  a 
wholesomer  life  for  the  family,  more  social 
and  educational  advantages,  and  the  general 
prestige  of  the  inviting  institution.  That  insti- 
tution is  fortunate  which  attracts  to  its  service 
young  men  from  all  conditions  of  life.  The 


100  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

recent  tendency  of  sons  of  well-to-do,  and  even 
rich,  families,  to  go  into  the  ministry,  the 
medical  profession,  academic  life,  and  the  pub- 
lic service,  is  one  in  which  all  patriots  may 
well  rejoice.  Such  young  men,  if  they  have 
intellectual  ambition,  and  the  needed  capacity 
for  teaching  and  investigation,  contribute  very 
much  to  the  total  wisdom  and  efficiency  of  any 
university  faculty. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  professorships  are 
ordinarily  held  for  life  in  a  well-managed  uni- 
versity, the  rate  at  which  the  membership  of 
a  faculty  changes  is  much  more  rapid  than  is 
generally  supposed.  The  larger  the  proportion 
of  assistant  professors  and  instructors  in  any 
faculty,  the  more  rapid  will  be  the  changes ; 
because  assistant  professorships  are  best  made 
terminable  at  stated  periods,  and  instructors 
frequently  win  promotion  in  other  institutions 
than  their  own.  In  twenty-five  years  nearly 
two  thirds  of  an  active  faculty  may  be  re- 
placed, and  more  than  half  in  twenty  years. 
The  existence  of  a  system  of  retiring  allow- 
ances, such  as  the  Carnegie  Foundation  now 


MANY  ANNUAL  APPOINTMENTS         101 

provides,  tends  to  make  the  replacement  of  a 
large  staff  more  rapid  than  it  used  to  be  before 
retiring  allowances  were  provided.  It  is  not  at 
all  uncommon  for  one  fifth  of  the  members  of 
a  faculty  to  disappear  within  five  years.  These 
facts  indicate  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
keeping  a  faculty  young  on  the  average,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  long  tenures  and  life- 
service  are  the  rule  in  well-managed  univer- 
sities. 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  there  should 
be  a  large  body  of  young  men  on  a  univer- 
sity's staff  who  hold  only  annual  appointments. 
In  these  places  young  men  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  prove  their  capacity  as  teachers  and 
advanced  students,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
university  by  carefully  observing  the  young 
men  who  hold  annual  appointments  can  select 
the  most  promising  men  to  be  instructors  with- 
out limit  of  time.  These  selections  ought  in 
practice  to  be  made  by  the  departments  in 
which  the  annually  appointed  instructors  work, 
that  is,  by  the  body  of  professors,  assistant 
professors,  and  instructors  without  limit  of 


102  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

time,  who  are  members  of  a  single  department 
like  history,  mathematics,  or  physics.  These 
persons  really  know  the  capacities  and  char- 
acters of  the  annual  appointees ;  for  they  have 
become  intimate  with  them  as  undergraduates, 
and  they  also  see  them  at  work  as  assistants 
and  annually  appointed  instructors.  It  is  im- 
possible that  the  president  or  the  board  of 
trustees  should  know  these  young  men ;  so  that 
the  authority  and  responsibility  for  the  selec- 
tion are  best  placed  with  the  departments  that 
have  the  necessary  knowledge  of  the  candi- 
dates. 

In  recruiting  a  university's  staff,  a  long 
period  of  probation  for  all  candidates,  who  rise 
from  the  ranks  and  advance  gradually  towards 
a  full  professorship,  is  necessary,  and  it  is 
desirable  that  this  long  period  of  probation 
should  cover  the  period  within  which  marriage 
is  probable.  Marriage  is  quite  as  apt  to  affect 
either  favorably  or  unfavorably  the  efficiency 
and  general  usefulness  of  a  university  teacher, 
as  of  professional  and  business  men  in  any 
other  line.  It  is  a  good  deal  safer  to  give  a  life 


RECRUITING  A  FACULTY  103 

office  to  a  married  man  on  whom  marriage  has 
proved  to  have  a  good  effect,  than  to  a  single 
man  who  may  shortly  be  married  with  un- 
certain results. 

An  interesting  question  with  regard  to  the 
recruiting  of  a  faculty  by  calling  proved  men 
from  other  institutions  to  full  professorships 
is  the  limit  of  age  beyond  which  such  calls  are 
inexpedient.  Opinions  and  practices  differ 
widely  in  this  matter ;  but  general  experience 
in  several  different  nations  seems  to  indicate 
that  the  most  vigorous  and  productive  period 
of  a  teacher's  and  investigator's  life  is  from 
twenty-five  to  forty-five;  although  there  are 
many  cases  in  which  a  great  student  continues 
to  develop  after  forty-five  the  corollaries  or 
consequences  of  the  principles  which  he  con- 
ceived and  first  applied  at  a  much  earlier  age. 
Accordingly,  a  university  which  calls  to  its 
service  a  man  over  forty-five  takes  the  chance 
of  getting  a  man  of  declining  rather  than 
of  mounting  efficiency.  The  same  principle 
applies  to  university  administrative  officers. 
They  should  begin  young,  and  attain  their 


104  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

highest  rank  while  their  mental  and  moral 
efficiency  is  still  mounting.  These  rules  are 
necessarily  qualified  by  the  fact  that  some 
exceptional  men  continue  to  exhibit  mental 
elasticity  and  vigor  unusually  late  in  life. 
Nevertheless,  a  university  which  counts  on 
such  exceptions  will  run  serious  risks,  and 
occasionally  pay  heavy  penalties  for  venture- 
someness  in  this  respect.  An  institution  eli- 
gible for  Carnegie  Foundation  pensions  can 
prudently  invite  rather  older  men  to  its  service. 

A  competent  faculty  having  been  created 
on  sound  principles  of  selection  and  promo- 
tion, the  question  next  to  be  discussed  is  what 
a  faculty's  functions  ought  to  be.  As  good  a 
definition  as  exists  of  the  functions  of  a  fac- 
ulty is  to  be  found  in  the  Statutes  of  Har- 
vard University,  Section  VI,  in  which  it  is 
stated  that  each  of  the  Schools  of  the  Uni- 
versity is  "  under  the  immediate  charge  of  a 
faculty."  This  phrase  means  in  the  practice  of 
Harvard  University  that  the  several  faculties 
have  immediate  charge  of  the  requirements 


FUNCTIONS  OF  A  FACULTY  105 

for  admission ;  of  the  courses  of  instruction 
provided;  of  the  daily  demands  upon  both 
teachers  and  students ;  of  the  times  and  sea- 
sons of  university  work  during  term-time ;  of 
the  conditions  on  which  degrees  are  conferred ; 
and  of  the  government  of  the  students  in  all 
respects.  Each  faculty  lays  down  the  rules  to 
which  instructors  and  students  must  conform, 
and  each  faculty  has  power  to  define  the  pen- 
alties for  infringement  of  these  rules,  and  to 
apply  them.  In  order  to  discharge  these  ex- 
tensive functions,  each  faculty  has  a  dean  at 
its  head,  and  a  secretary,  and  is  authorized  to 
delegate  any  of  its  powers  relating  to  ordinary 
matters  of  administration  and  discipline  to 
standing  committees  which  prepare  its  busi- 
ness, or  act  with  full  power  on  matters  con- 
cerning which  clear  precedents  have  been 
firmly  established.  In  institutions  to  which 
large  numbers  of  students  resort,  and  which 
offer  instruction  in  great  variety,  a  faculty 
tends  to  become  a  large  body ;  and  since  large 
bodies  are  ill  adapted  for  the  discharge  of  ad- 
ministrative functions  in  detail,  this  power  to 


106  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

delegate  its  functions  to  administrative  offi- 
cers and  boards,  or  committees,  is  essential  to 
the  efficiency  of  the  faculty.  A  wise  faculty 
will,  however,  keep  in  its  own  hands  a  firm 
control  over  its  officers  and  committees,  and 
will  itself  lay  down  all  the  general  lines  of 
educational  policy. 

From  time  to  time  questions  of  policy  come 
before  a  faculty  which  obviously  have  a  direct 
pecuniary  bearing.  Thus  the  raising  of  the 
terms  of  admission  to  any  department  of  a 
university  may  affect  the  resort  of  students, 
and  therefore  the  receipts  from  students, 
particularly  in  an  institution  which  depends 
largely  on  tuition-fees.  On  such  subjects  the 
faculty  should  invariably  send  their  recom- 
mendations to  the  board  of  trustees  before 
publishing  them,  in  order  that  the  body  re- 
sponsible for  the  pecuniary  welfare  of  the  uni- 
versity should  have  opportunity  to  consider 
and  approve,  or  disapprove,  the  proposed  mea- 
sures. All  measures  which  affect  the  ordinary 
period  of  residence  for  a  degree  given  by  the 
university,  or  which  make  it  more  difficult,  or 


RELATIONS  OF  FACULTY  AND  TRUSTEES  107 

less  difficult,  to  obtain  a  degree,  are  measures 
having  pecuniary  significance.  So  are  pro- 
posals to  add  new  branches  of  instruction,  or 
to  increase  the  amount  of  instruction  offered 
in  old  departments,  unless  the  faculty  sees  its 
way  to  procure  more  instruction  without  in- 
creasing the  staff,  and  therefore  the  total 
amount  of  salaries.  In  general,  new  proposals 
which  might  affect  strongly  the  serviceable- 
ness  of  a  university,  or  the  feeling  towards 
it  of  its  Alumni,  the  State,  or  the  public  at 
large,  ought  not  to  be  put  in  force  by  a  fac- 
ulty without  previous  consultation  with  the 
trustees. 

There  is  one  matter  of  etiquette  concerning 
the  relations  between  a  faculty  and  a  board 
of  trustees  which  has  some  importance  with 
reference  to  a  faculty's  sense  of  responsibility, 
but  is  not  always  observed.  An  individual 
member  of  a  faculty  should  not  approach  a 
member  or  members  of  the  board  of  trustees 
with  opinions  of  his  own  in  opposition  to  an 
official  opinion  already  conveyed  to  the  trus- 
tees by  the  majority  of  the  faculty  to  which 


108  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

the  professor  belongs.  If  minority  opinions 
existing  within  the  faculty  deserve  or  need  to 
be  expressed  to  the  board  of  trustees,  they 
should  be  forwarded  by  the  faculty  itself  as 
minority  opinions.  In  serious  emergencies  this 
rule  admits  of  exceptions;  but,  in  general, 
single  members  of  a  faculty  should  strictly 
observe  it  out  of  respect  for  the  influence  and 
authority  of  the  faculty. 

The  large  faculty  of  arts  and  sciences,  large 
because  of  the  multitude  of  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion which  it  deals  with,  is  necessarily  sub- 
divided into  departments  by  subject,  such  as 
the  classics,  the  modern  languages,  history, 
government,  physics,  geology,  architecture, 
fine  arts,  and  so  forth.  Within  each  depart- 
ment the  interests  of  its  members  are  homo- 
geneous and  accordant ;  and  each  department 
is  naturally  ambitious  to  enlarge  its  opera- 
tions, and  win  more  and  more  of  the  attention 
and  time  of  an  increasing  number  of  students. 
The  faculty  should  exercise  a  vigilant  watch- 
fulness over  all  its  own  departments,  and 
endeavor  to  keep  their  development  propor- 


NORMAL  NUMBER  OF  WEEKLY  EXERCISES    109 

tionate  and  moderate,  and  should  not  allow 
any  department  to  urge  its  needs  and  wishes 
directly  on  the  board  of  trustees,  at  least  until 
they  have  been  examined  and  approved  by 
the  faculty.  One  of  the  standing  committees 
of  every  faculty  should  be  a  committee  on  in- 
struction, whose  function  is  to  examine  and 
report  on  all  propositions  which  come  from 
departments  concerning  courses  of  instruction. 
A  very  important  function  of  a  faculty  is 
to  determine  the  normal  number  of  weekly 
exercises  for  which  each  registered  student 
shall  be  responsible.  This  number  is  naturally 
different  in  different  schools  or  divisions  of 
the  university,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  under- 
graduate schools  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
graduate  schools  on  the  other.  And,  again, 
attendance  on  fifteen  hours  a  week  in  one 
institution  may  not  be  a  greater  task  than 
attendance  on  ten  in  another,  everything  de- 
pending on  the  standard  of  work  by  the 
student  for  each  weekly  appointment.  The 
total  labor  of  the  student  per  week  may  be 
greater  at  one  institution  which  requires  at- 


110  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

tendance  at  ten  exercises  a  week  than  at 
another  which  requires  attendance  at  fifteen. 
At  each  institution  the  faculty  is  the  only 
competent  body  to  determine  the  most  expe- 
dient number  of  weekly  exercises  to  be  at- 
tended by  each  student;  because  it  is  the 
only  body  which  can  know  what  the  standard 
of  labor  per  exercise  is  within  its  own  pro- 
vince. 

It  is  for  a  faculty  to  determine  what  amount 
of  control  it  will  exercise  over  the  methods  of 
instruction  adopted  in  its  several  departments, 
or  by  the  professors,  assistant  professors,  in- 
structors, and  tutors.  As  a  rule,  tutors  and 
instructors  are  responsible  in  regard  to  their 
subjects  and  methods  of  teaching  to  their 
several  departments,  and  the  departments  are 
responsible  to  the  faculty.  The  freedom  of  a 
teacher  to  give  instruction  in  just  the  method 
which  suits  him  being  very  precious,  a  faculty 
cannot  wisely  interfere  often  with  the  teach- 
ing methods  of  individual  teachers.  Never- 
theless, a  faculty  can  properly  criticise  the 
results  of  any  professor's,  or  other  instructor's, 


FACULTY'S  CONTROL  OVER  INSTRUCTORS    111 

work  as  they  appear  in  certain  easily  visible 
ways.  Among  such  visible  evidences  are  dis- 
order in  a  professor's  lecture-room ;  the  resort 
of  obviously  incompetent  or  uninterested  stu- 
dents to  his  courses ;  examination  papers  of  a 
trivial  or  pedantic  sort ;  uniform  high  grades 
or  uniform  low  grades  returned  by  the  pro- 
fessor; an  extraordinary  number  of  distinc- 
tions earned  in  his  courses ;  or  an  extraordi- 
nary number  of  rejections  and  failures.  These 
are  legitimate  subjects  of  inquiry  by  a  faculty 
committee  or  by  faculty  officials,  and  can  be 
dealt  with  by  a  faculty  without  impairing 
just  academic  freedom.  The  knowledge  that 
this  power  of  revision  resides  in  a  faculty  is  a 
valuable  control  over  individual  eccentricities. 
The  faculties  in  some  American  universities 
exercise  the  power  to  nominate  to  the  board 
of  trustees  new  professors,  the  trustees  as  a 
rule  accepting  these  nominations.  This  power 
of  nomination  has  generally  been  acquired  by 
custom,  and  does  not  rest  upon  any  written 
law.  The  practice  probably  arose  at  a  time 
when  faculties  were  small,  and  its  members 


112  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

were  intimately  related  one  to  another,  and 
more  interested  in  keeping  the  faculties  strong 
than  any  other  set  of  men  connected  with  the 
institution.  The  trustees  presumably  met  but 
seldom,  and  had  no  time  to  inquire  into  the 
claims  and  merits  of  different  candidates. 
Moreover,  when  the  range  of  college  studies 
was  small,  and  all  members  of  the  faculty  had 
passed  through  the  same  curriculum  in  their 
youth,  they  were  fair  judges  of  the  qualifica- 
tions of  candidates  whose  range  of  knowledge 
and  intellectual  interests  was  similar  to  their 
own. 

The  problem  of  selecting  new  members  of 
a  faculty  is  utterly  different  to-day.  In  a  large 
university  faculty  of  arts  and  sciences  the 
members  rarely  feel  competent  to  pass  on  the 
qualifications  of  candidates  for  election  who 
do  not  belong  to  their  own  department,  or  to 
some  closely  allied  department.  Thus  a  pro- 
fessor of  Latin,  Sanskrit,  or  comparative  lit- 
erature, will  ordinarily  declare  that  he  knows 
nothing  about  the  qualifications  of  a  candi- 
date for  a  professorship  of  mathematics,  geo- 


FACULTY  NOMINATION  OF  PROFESSORS    113 

logy,  or  chemistry;  and  all  members  of  the 
faculty  are  conscious  of  this  sort  of  ignorance 
on  their  own  part.  The  official  nomination 
by  a  faculty  under  such  circumstances  is  a 
formality  or  a  convention,  and  not  a  piece  of 
real  advice.  The  president  of  the  university, 
the  dean  of  one  of  its  schools,  or  a  committee 
of  the  trustees,  when  charged  with  the  nomi- 
nation of  a  professor,  will  naturally  consult 
the  professors  of  the  department  in  which  the 
vacancy  is  to  be  filled,  and  often  the  profes- 
sors of  allied  departments,  and  will  so  obtain 
much  more  direct  and  valuable  advice  than 
the  vote  of  a  faculty  could  give.  This  func- 
tion of  nominating  professors  for  election  by 
the  trustees  is  therefore  not  one  to  be  recom- 
mended for  the  faculties  of  an  expanding  and 
hopeful  institution.  Other  methods  of  selection 
already  exist  which  work  better  in  practice,  and 
are  theoretically  sounder.  The  method  was 
natural  in  a  private-venture  medical  school, 
because  the  professors  were  there  really  part- 
ners in  a  business  the  proceeds  of  which  they 
divided,  and  as  such  had  a  right  to  decide  on 


114  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

the  admission  of  new  members  to  the  firm; 
but  since  all  the  best  medical  schools  have 
been  taken  on  by  universities,  this  method  of 
selecting  professors  has  been  modified  or  aban- 
doned in  the  new  medical  faculties.  The  func- 
tion is  still  sometimes  exercised  by  a  committee 
of  all  the  full  professors  in  a  medical  faculty, 
but  is  of  doubtful  expediency  even  when  thus 
limited. 

What  is  called  discipline  in  an  American 
university  is  ordinarily  committed  entirely  to 
its  several  faculties.  This  discipline  may  vary 
in  the  different  faculties  of  the  same  institu- 
tion. In  general,  it  is  a  government  which 
uses  no  force  except  the  force  of  public  opin- 
ion; and  this  opinion  is  compounded  of  the 
opinion  of  the  older  scholars  who  are  the 
teachers,  and  of  the  younger  students  who 
are  the  junior  members  of  the  university  for 
the  time  being,  with  an  admixture  of  the 
opinion  of  the  graduates  of  the  institution, 
which,  though  somewhat  remote  and  infre- 
quently appealed  to,  is  yet  felt  by  faculty 
and  students  alike  as  a  real  unofficial  force  of 


COLLEGE  DISCIPLINE  115 

a  wholly  disinterested  character.  The  only 
penalties  which  a  faculty  uses,  after  warnings, 
reproofs,  and  exhortations,  are  temporary  ban- 
ishments, and  in  the  last  resort,  final  sepa- 
ration from  the  institution  after  all  other 
measures  have  failed.  These  penalties  are,  how- 
ever, highly  effective,  because  of  the  univer- 
sal recognition  of  the  fact  that  membership 
in  a  college  or  university  is  a  high  privilege. 
From  the  long  and  varied  experience  of  Amer- 
ican colleges  in  trying  to  maintain  a  just  and 
effective  discipline,  certain  general  rules  or 
principles  of  administration  have  been  evolved, 
the  most  important  of  which  are  as  follows  : 
No  faculty,  or  official,  should  ever  try  to  make 
•a  student,  who  is  merely  suspected  of  hav- 
ing taken  part  in  an  offence,  incriminate 
himself.  Students  should  never  be  required 
to  testify  against  other  students.  When  the 
guilty  cannot  be  detected,  there  should  be 
no  wholesale  punishment  which  involves  the 
innocent.  A  student's  statement  about  his 
own  conduct  should  be  accepted,  unless  it  be 
inconsistent  with  known  facts.  No  publicity 


116  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

should  be  given  to  students'  offences  or  de- 
fects, and  the  record  of  actual  censures  and 
punishments  should  be  made  as  little  con- 
demnatory as  truth  permits.  No  information 
about  disorders  should  ever  be  sought  from 
any  particular  set  of  students,  such  as  high 
scholars,  recipients  of  money  aids,  church 
members,  members  of  religious  societies,  stu- 
dents employed  by  the  college,  or  students 
who  in  some  natural  and  right  way  have  be- 
come intimate  with  college  officers.  All  col- 
lege officials  should  bear  constantly  in  mind 
the  plain  fact  that  most  college  offenders,  even 
those  who  commit  ordinary  crimes,  such  as 
cheating  and  stealing,  if  considerately  and 
mercifully  dealt  with,  and  if  not  ruined  in 
body,  recover  themselves  completely,  and  turn 
out  to  be  honest  men  and  good  citizens.  Since 
the  influence  of  a  college  faculty  is  primarily 
a  moral  influence,  it  is  indispensable  that  all 
its  methods  and  rules  in  regard  to  violations 
of  good  order  and  right  conduct  should  be 
straightforward,  reasonable,  and  fair. 

The  functions  of  a  State  university  faculty 


OUTSIDE  FACULTY  LABORS  117 

differ  somewhat  from  those  of  the  faculty  in 
an  endowed  institution  which  is  not  depend- 
ent on  appropriations  to  be  made  by  a  legis- 
lature, because  the  State  university  faculty 
has  a  stronger  sense  of  direct  responsibility 
to  its  State  and  a  keener  desire  to  be  of  direct 
and  visible  service  to  the  learned  and  scientific 
professions,  popular  education,  the  character- 
istic industries,  and  the  public  administration 
within  its  State.  It  will  therefore  take  active 
part,  through  many  of  its  members,  in  visit- 
ing secondary  schools,  holding  short  courses 
of  elementary  instruction  at  the  university  or 
at  a  distance  from  it,  lecturing  at  teachers' 
institutes,  women's  clubs,  grange  meetings, 
•and  trade-associations,  distributing  through 
numerous  short-term  students  superior  seeds 
proved  at  the  university,  and  working  on 
State  commissions  which  need  the  help  of 
experts.  Such  useful  functions  as  these  the 
faculties  of  endowed  universities  in  the  East 
have  been  slow  to  assume.  They  have  been 
inclined  to  reserve  themselves  for  teaching 
and  research  at  the  seat  of  the  university, 


118  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

and  to  leave  to  others  all  sorts  of  "  university 
extension  "  work.  They  are,  however,  improv- 
ing in  this  respect,  because  they  now  realize 
that  in  a  democratic  society  all  institutions  of 
higher  education,  whether  endowed  or  sup- 
ported from  public  revenues,  are  ultimately 
dependent  on  the  public's  appreciation  of  their 
services,  direct  and  indirect,  and  on  the  result- 
ing good-will  of  the  whole  community.  Hence 
the  growth  at  endowed  institutions  of  summer 
schools  in  theology,  medicine,  and  arts  and 
sciences,  of  term-time  classes  for  teachers  in 
service,  and  of  courses  of  popular  lectures  in 
divinity  and  medicine  at  times  convenient  for 
adults  who  are  earning  their  livelihood ;  and 
hence  also  the  increasing  participation  of  uni- 
versity professors  in  various  forms  of  public 
work. 

Every  faculty  should  keep  careful  records 
of  the  academic  career  and  attainments  of 
every  student  under  its  charge,  and  should 
found  on  these  records  its  recommendations 
for  the  conferring  of  degrees,  and  of  all  other 
academic  distinctions ;  and  it  should  provide 


FREQUENT  STATED  MEETINGS  119 

for  the  preservation  of  these  records,  and  their 
secure  transmission  from  century  to  century. 
Very  few  American  institutions  have  done 
their  full  duty  in  this  respect;  but  the  cus- 
toms of  the  colleges  and  universities  as  to 
records  and  the  proper  use  of  them  are  im- 
proving. 

Such  being  the  functions  of  a  faculty,  how 
can  they  be  best  discharged  ?  In  the  first 
place,  by  frequent  stated  meetings  for  exam- 
ining the  condition  of  its  work,  for  hearing 
reports  from  its  officers  and  committees,  and 
for  the  consideration  and  discussion  of  pro- 
posals to  improve  its  methods. 

The  rapidity  and  completeness  with  which 
methods  of  instruction  and  fields  of  instruc- 
tion change  from  generation  to  generation, 
and  even  from  decade  to  decade,  is  one  of  the 
most  astonishing  facts  in  the  history  of  edu- 
cation. Thus  there  is  not  a  single  subject 
within  the  whole  range  of  instruction  at  Har- 
vard University,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
undergraduate  course  to  the  end  of  the  pro- 


120  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

fessional  courses,  which  is  now  taught  in  the 
same  way  in  which  it  was  taught  forty  years 
ago,  or  which  offers  the  same  field  of  instruc- 
tion which  it  offered  to  the  student  of  the  last 
generation.  All  the  methods  and  apparatus  of 
teaching,  and  the  spirit  or  temper  of  teacher 
and  taught  alike,  have  changed.  Some  of  these 
profound  changes  begin  in  the  faculties ;  but 
others  begin  outside  the  university  in  the 
working  world,  and  must  be  discerned,  appre- 
ciated, and  adopted  by  the  faculties;  some 
are  university  inventions ;  but  many  are  the 
consequences  of  social,  industrial,  and  political 
changes  in  the  outside  world.  Every  faculty, 
therefore,  has  to  keep  up  with  the  rapid  march 
of  educational  events,  and  for  this  purpose 
it  must  have  frequent  stated  meetings,  and 
patient  discussion  of  new  proposals. 

This  necessity  for  the  constant  revision  of 
educational  plans,  methods,  and  material  pene- 
trates, or  should  penetrate,  to  the  work  of 
every  individual  teacher  in  the  university.  A 
professor  who  reads  year  after  year  the  same 
lectures  is  sure  to  become  an  incubus  on  his 


VITALITY  IN  A  FACULTY  121 

department  and  his  university.  The  young 
instructor  who  does  not  apply  the  experience 
of  one  year's  teaching  to  vivify  and  improve 
the  next  year's  is  a  bad  candidate  for  promo- 
tion. So,  in  the  agglomeration  of  university 
teachers  called  a  faculty,  if  they  meet  but 
seldom,  leaving  to  deans,  secretaries,  and  com- 
mittees all  the  routine  work  without  demand- 
ing of  them  incessant  improvements,  receive 
from  the  members  few  new  proposals,  and  do 
their  best  to  avoid  discussion  of  those  few, 
it  is  certain  that  the  institution  in  their  charge 
will  not  grow  or  thrive,  and  will  soon  cease 
to  play  a  leading  part  in  the  educational  pro- 
gress of  the  community  or  the  nation.  By  the 
vitality,  inventiveness,  and  enterprise  of  its 
faculty,  it  is  safe  to  judge  any  institution  of 
learning.  Nothing  can  take  the  place  of  vital- 
ity in  a  faculty,  no  one-man  power  in  a  presi- 
dent or  dean,  no  vigor  and  ambition  in  a  board 
of  trustees,  and  no  affection  or  zeal  in  the 
graduates  of  the  institution. 

Faculty  meetings  serve  several  other  pur- 
poses besides  that  of  the  promotion  of  educa- 


122  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

tional  improvements.  In  the  first  place,  they 
greatly  promote  mutual  acquaintance  and  good 
understanding  among  the  teachers  of  a  col- 
lege or  university.  Good  fellowship  and  a  real 
intellectual  intimacy  among  the  teachers  of 
a  university  are  in  themselves  great  objects. 
They  create  a  good  atmosphere  for  the  intel- 
lectual life  of  the  whole  body  of  teachers  and 
students.  In  faculty  meetings  the  different 
qualities  of  the  members  who  take  part  in  the 
discussions  are  plainly  revealed.  The  whole 
body  learns  that  certain  members  are  public- 
spirited,  generous  of  time  and  labor,  and  co- 
operative, while  other  members  exhibit  the 
opposite  qualities.  Some  members  are  seen  to 
be  clear,  keen,  and  fair  in  debate,  while  others 
are  obscure,  dull,  or  unfair;  some  members 
are  modest  and  retiring,  and  yet  ready  for 
service,  while  others  are  more  forth-putting  in 
talk,  but  not  so  serviceable ;  some  are  quick, 
ready,  and  fertile,  while  others  are  habitually 
slow  to  speak,  and  even  tardy  in  debate,  and 
yet  sound  and  influential ;  some  say  little,  but 
their  opinions  are  weighty  when  expressed; 


COMPOSITION  OF  COMMITTEES          123 

others  talk  much  and  often,  and  neverthe- 
less are  influential  because  inventive  and 
suggestive.  That  the  members  of  a  faculty 
understand  each  others'  dispositions  and  vari- 
ous capacities  is  often  a  great  advantage  in 
university  crises  or  emergencies;  that  the 
president  and  the  deans  should  have  the  op- 
portunities which  faculty  meetings  supply  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  powers  and  char- 
acters of  the  different  members  of  the  univer- 
sity staff  is  of  primary  importance.  In  every 
large  faculty  the  personal  composition  of  its 
committees  is  of  great  importance;  and  no 
president,  or  nominating  committee,  can  make 
up  these  committees  judiciously,  unless  he  has 
the  opportunity  which  faculty  meetings  afford 
to  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
mental  and  moral  make-up  of  its  different 
members.  In  faculty  meetings,  and  in  service 
on  faculty  committees,  the  men  who  have  ad- 
ministrative capacity  show  their  quality,  and 
from  that  class  deans  and  secretaries  are  best 
selected.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the 
president  of  a  university  should  preside  at  the 


124  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

meetings  of  all  its  faculties,  and  should  give 
each  faculty  the  advantage  of  the  experience 
of  all  the  others.  A  wise  president  will  dread 
nothing  so  much  as  an  inert  and  uninterested 
faculty. 

There  is  no  way  to  prevent  a  faculty  of  arts 
and  sciences,  or  of  medicine,  or  of  applied 
science,  from  becoming  a  large  body  in  a 
prosperous  and  serviceable  university.  Mere 
size  brings  with  it  difficulties  for  a  body 
which  is  both  deliberative  and  administrative. 
Moreover,  large  faculties  imply  numerous 
appointments  of  young  men  every  year.  It 
is,  therefore,  an  interesting  question  how  a 
large  faculty  may  be  subdivided  into  effective 
groups,  each  of  which  can  prepare  a  certain 
part  of  the  faculty's  business  for  the  faculty 
and  the  president.  Within  the  last  twenty 
years  experience  has  shown  the  advantageous 
way  of  creating  these  effective  subdivisions ; 
and  the  increasing  authority  of  these  subdivi- 
sions, each  within  its  legitimate  sphere  of 
action,  is  one  of  the  great  gains  made  of  late 
years  in  American  university  organization. 


FUNCTIONS  OF  DEPARTMENTS  125 

Every  large  faculty  should  be  divided  into  de- 
partments by  subject,  each  department  consist- 
ing of  the  teachers  of  that  subject  who  are 
members  of  the  faculty.  Each  department  thus 
organized  is,  as  has  already  been  said,  a  body 
with  homogeneous  interests  and  kindred  ambi- 
tions and  hopes.  They  all  know  much  about 
each  other's  work,  and  are  good  judges  of  the 
young  men  who,  year  after  year,  aspire  to  teach 
their  subject  in  the  university.  As  a  group, 
they  know  how  the  interests  of  their  subject 
may  most  effectively  be  promoted  at  the  mo- 
ment, and  are  therefore  well  qualified  to  urge 
the  needs  of  their  department  on  the  faculty, 
the  president,  and  the  community.  The  older 
members  of  the  department  also  know  the 
young  men  who  in  former  years  exhibited  in- 
terest in  the  work  of  the  department  while 
students,  and  what  has  become  of  them  in 
after-life.  They  can  bring  the  needs  of  the 
department  before  such  of  their  former  stu- 
dents as  have  succeeded  in  business,  or  in  the 
professions,  and  can  interest  them  better  than 
anybody  else  in  promoting  the  interests  of 


126  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

the  department.  They  can  discuss  within  the 
department  the  methods  of  instruction  in 
use ;  the  completeness  or  incompleteness  of  the 
series  of  courses  offered  by  the  department ; 
the  expediency  of  changing  the  series,  whether 
by  subtraction  or  addition  ;  and  the  exchange 
of  courses  from  time  to  time  among  members 
of  the  department.  In  the  intimacy  of  depart- 
mental debates,  the  older  men  can  inform  the 
younger,  and  the  younger  the  older. 

Each  department  needs  a  chairman,  and 
most  large  departments  need  also  a  secretary. 
The  policy  to  be  followed  in  selecting  this 
chairman  is  a  matter  of  grave  consequence. 
In  small  colleges  which  had  but  one  professor 
for  each  subject,  it  was  natural  that  the  single 
professor  should  always  be  treated  as  the  head 
of  his  department;  but  in  large  colleges  or 
universities  which  employ  many  teachers  in  a 
single  department,  the  principle  of  seniority 
is  a  dangerous  one  for  determining  the  selec- 
tion of  the  chairmen  of  departments.  The  se- 
lection is  best  made  from  time  to  time  either 
by  the  president,  or  by  a  faculty  committee  of 


CHAIRMEN  OF  DEPARTMENTS  127 

•which  the  president  is  chairman.  This  com- 
mittee may  wisely  treat  department  chairman- 
ships as  offices  to  be  held  only  for  four,  five, 
or  six  years,  unless,  indeed,  a  department  be 
too  small  to  provide  a  series  of  good  chair- 
men. On  this  principle  the  chairmen  will  not 
often  be  senior  professors,  and  indeed  will 
generally  be  junior  professors,  or  assistant 
professors.  In  this  way  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  persons  will,  within  twenty  years,  ex- 
ercise the  function  of  chairman  of  a  depart- 
ment, and  will  be  enlarged  and  improved  by 
that  exercise.  Moreover,  dangers  from  the 
domination  of  masterful  personages  will  be 
reduced  to  a  minimum  under  this  system; 
while  the  advantages  of  a  real  leadership  need 
not  be  lost. 

To  the  departments  will  naturally  fall  the 
nomination  of  young  men  for  annual  appoint- 
ments, and  in  this  way  they  will  exercise 
considerable  power  over  the  future  of  the  uni- 
versity. The  faculty  and  the  president  will 
always  have  to  be  on  their  guard  against  the 
urgencies  of  the  departments,  balancing  one 


128  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

claim  against  another,  and  watching  to  see  that 
the  development  of  the  departments  is  propor- 
tionate to  the  importance  of  their  respective 
subjects. 

In  the  presentation  of  department  business 
to  the  faculty,  chairmen  of  departments  often 
feel  obliged  to  urge  on  the  faculty  the  action 
which  the  department  has  taken  by  a  ma- 
jority vote,  without  revealing  the  existence  of 
a  strong  minority  opinion  within  the  depart- 
ment. This  natural,  and,  perhaps,  inevitable 
practice  enhances  the  importance  of  thor- 
oughly discussing  within  the  faculty  every 
proposal  which  is  brought  before  it.  In  such 
a  discussion  the  minority  view  within  a  de- 
partment can  almost  always  be  brought  out, 
to  the  enlightenment  of  the  faculty.  A  well- 
organized  and  active  department  will  generally 
procure,  outside  of  the  official  programmes  of 
the  faculty,  various  conferences,  and  public  or 
private  lectures  by  experts  brought  from  with- 
out the  university,  which  stimulate  teachers 
and  students  alike,  and  add  to  the  effective- 
ness of  the  department  as  a  whole. 


DEPARTMENT  ACTIVITIES  129 

A  department  is  also  very  likely  to  interest 
itself  in  some  medium  of  stated  publication 
for  papers  written  by  members  of  the  depart- 
ment, or  invited  from  scholars  at  other  uni- 
versities. These  publications,  if  well  managed, 
not  only  strengthen  the  department  which 
produces  them,  but  add  to  the  prestige  of  the 
university  as  a  whole.  Again,  it  often  hap- 
pens that  the  group  of  teachers  and  students 
called  a  department  takes  a  vigorous  interest 
in  adding  to  the  resources  of  the  university 
library  on  the  departmental  subject,  and  this 
is  one  of  the  most  legitimate  of  all  fields  for 
departmental  interest  and  labor.  The  books 
having  been  procured,  the  department  inter- 
ests itself  in  securing  a  separate  reading-room 
for  its  own  use.  Thence  arises  a  demand  for 
a  departmental  building  where  its  lecture- 
rooms,  collections,  and  reading-room  can  all  be 
brought  together.  The  departmental  organi- 
zation is  therefore  likely  to  affect  in  the 
future,  not  only  the  internal,  but  also  the 
external  structure  of  the  American  univer- 
sities. Since  departments  are  inevitably  com- 


130  THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY 

mittees  of  a  faculty,  and  will  always  need 
faculty  control,  their  increasing  power  and 
usefulness  imply  the  increasing  power  and  use- 
fulness of  the  faculty  out  of  which  they  are 
created. 


IV 

THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

GREAT  changes  have  come  over  the  American 
college  and  university  during  the  last  forty 
years.  The  greatest  change  is  the  general  in- 
troduction in  larger  or  smaller  measure  of  the 
elective  system;  and  the  next  in  importance 
is  the  change  in  methods  of  instruction.  The 
present  chapter  deals  with  the  nature,  objects, 
and  results  of  the  elective  system,  and  the 
following  chapter  with  methods  of  instruc- 
tion. 

In  the  first  place,  the  elective  system  is  a 
system,  —  that  is,  a  carefully  arranged  scheme 
of  numerous  courses  of  instruction  which  are 
open  to  the  choice  of  students  under  rules 
partly  artificial,  but  chiefly  natural  and  inev- 
itable. The  elective  system  has  been  described 
by  its  opponents  as  a  wide-open,  miscellane- 
ous bazaar,  at  which  a  bewildering  variety  of 
goods  is  offered  to  the  purchaser,  who  is  left 


132  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

without  guidance,  and  acts  without  any  con- 
stant or  sensible  motive.  Nothing  could  be 
farther  from  the  facts  than  this  description. 
An  elective  system  presupposes  a  well-ordered 
series  of  consecutive  courses  in  each  large 
subject  of  instruction,  such  as  Latin,  Ger- 
man, history,  or  physics.  The  division  of  the 
courses  of  instruction  into  groups  by  subject 
is  natural  and  easily  intelligible.  Within  these 
groups  the  series  of  subjects  is  natural  and 
plain,  except  for  the  unexplained  gaps  which 
often  occur  in  the  series,  —  gaps  due  to  the 
inadequacy  of  the  institution's  resources. 

In  a  strong  university  the  subjects  of  in- 
struction taken  together  ought  to  cover  all 
fields  of  human  knowledge  in  which  it  is  pos- 
sible to  give  systematic  instruction;  and  in 
each  subject  the  schedule  of  courses  should  be 
in  the  highest  degree  orderly  and  consecutive, 
rising  from  the  elementary,  comprehensive 
course,  through  courses  of  greater  and  greater 
difficulty,  becoming  more  and  more  intensive, 
until  the  summit  is  reached  in  the  conferences 
or  seminaries  which  take  advanced  students 


THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  CHOICE  133 

to  the  limits  of  knowledge  in  that  subject.  It 
is  obvious  that  a  university  which  undertakes 
thus  to  deal  with  all  subjects  of  knowledge 
must  offer  a  very  large  total  of  different 
courses,  and  that  in  a  certain  sense,  therefore, 
the  choice  of  the  individual  student  has  a 
large  range;  but  it  is  equally  obvious  that 
in  the  list  or  schedule  of  courses  in  a  given 
division  or  department  of  knowledge  the 
choice  of  the  individual  student  has  strenuous 
limitations.  Thus,  the  beginner  must  take 
the  elementary  course  first,  and  he  must  then 
advance  through  the  long  schedule  of  the  de- 
partment by  well-marked  steps.  He  cannot 
choose  an  advanced  course  in  any  subject 
until  he  has  laid  the  necessary  foundation. 
No  student  is  admitted  to  any  course  unless 
he  has  fulfilled  all  the  requirements  for  that 
course,  and  the  department  announcements 
contain  numerous  prescriptions  concerning 
the  sequence  of  courses.  He  cannot  take 
two  courses  which  occur  in  the  time-tables 
at  the  same  hour;  and  the  time-tables  may 
be  systematically  used  to  prevent  unwise 


134  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

combinations  of  courses.  In  well-conducted 
institutions  he  cannot  take  an  advanced 
course  without  the  consent  of  the  instructor, 
who  must  be  satisfied  that  the  student  is 
well  prepared  to  do  the  work  which  the  in- 
structor habitually  demands.  The  elective  sys- 
tem, then,  is  extensive  and  complex,  but  it 
is  also  orderly,  well  mapped,  and  thoroughly 
regulated. 

The  primary  object  of  the  elective  system 
is  to  enable  the  serious  student  to  select  his 
studies  in  accordance  with  his  tastes  and  ca- 
pacities. He  is  enabled  to  select  those  studies 
which  interest  him,  or  those  teachers  who 
interest  him,  with  the  result  that  he  works 
much  harder  than  he  would  on  subjects  which 
do  not  interest  him,  makes  more  rapid  pro- 
gress, and  arrives  sooner  at  the  satisfactory 
stage  of  real  intellectual  achievement.  Any 
human  being,  whether  child  or  adult,  whether 
hand-worker  or  brain-worker,  will  always  work 
harder  and  accomplish  more  in  a  task  which 
interests  him.  The  first  effect,  therefore,  of 
the  elective  system  on  the  individual  student 


SUCCESS  THROUGH  INTEREST  135 

•who  has  intellectual  ambition  is  always  to 
get  more  work  from  him.  It  also  makes  him 
sooner  a  productive  person,  that  is,  a  contrib- 
utor to  the  sum  of  knowledge.  This  is  the 
primary  object  of  the  elective  system,  —  to 
make  the  serious  student  work  hard,  accom- 
plish something  worth  while,  and  so  win  power 
and  happiness.  The  complete  development  of 
the  elective  system  takes  place  in  the  later 
years  of  instruction  in  arts  and  sciences,  that 
is,  in  the  school  commonly  called  the  Gradu- 
ate School,  because  at  the  time  of  its  institu- 
tion it  was  the  only  school  in  the  American 
university  for  admission  to  which  a  previous 
degree  was  required.  Here  the  elective  sys- 
tem has  full  scope,  although  the  individual 
student  in  the  Graduate  School  ordinarily 
chooses  nothing  but  his  line  of  work.  On 
that  line  the  steps  of  his  progress  are  laid  out 
for  him ;  and  his  will  cooperates  in  the  limita- 
tions, for  the  intense  specialization  he  desires 
prescribes  the  limitations. 

But  how  is  it  with  the  college  student  who 
is  not  serious  ?  There  are  such  in  most  Amer- 


136  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

ican  colleges,  although  they  form  a  much 
smaller  proportion  of  the  whole  body  than 
uneducated  people  generally  believe.  What 
use  will  he  make  of  the  broad  range  of  op- 
tional subjects?  What  is  the  object  of  an  elec- 
tive system  for  him  ?  He  will  tend  to  avoid 
advanced  study,  and  make  his  selection  there- 
fore among  the  more  elementary  courses,  in 
the  hope  that  they  will  prove  easier  than  the 
advanced  courses,  or  more  level  to  his  intelli- 
gence. Among  the  elementary  courses  he  will 
undoubtedly  choose  those  which  present  most 
interest  to  his  unawakened  mind,  and  he  will 
also  diligently  inquire  for  the  inexperienced, 
less  strict,  or  more  soft-hearted  instructors,  in 
the  hope  that  his  shortcomings  may  by  such 
men  be  gently  dealt  with.  He  will  also  study 
the  time-tables,  and  avoid  courses  which  are 
scheduled  for  too  early  morning  hours  or  too 
late  afternoon  hours.  In  general  he  will  select 
the  courses  which  seem  to  him  safest  with  a 
view  to  timely  graduation,  and  to  this  end  he 
will  seek  the  advice  of  older  students  of  his 
sort. 


ITS  VALUE  FOR  THE  UNAMBITIOUS     137 

What  will  be  the  result  of  this  mode  of 
selecting  his  studies  by  a  student  without 
any  intellectual  ambition  ?  His  total  course,  or 
total  selection  of  courses,  will  probably  resem- 
ble the  old  prescribed  course  in  the  American 
college,  that  is,  it  will  remain  in  the  elements 
of  all  subjects ;  it  will  continue  in  college  some 
of  the  subjects  studied  at  school,  because  those 
are  the  subjects  in  which  the  youth  has  some 
acquired  capital ;  and  it  will  contain  a  greater 
variety  of  subjects  than  any  ambitious  stu- 
dent will  include  in  his  programme.  It  will 
be  what  is  ordinarily  called  an  "  all-round  " 
course.  It  will,  however,  be  a  course  which 
will  procure  from  the  chooser  more  work  than 
such  a  person  would  ever  have  done  under  a 
prescribed  system ;  because  in  some  degree  it 
is  selected  on  the  ground  of  the  mental  inter- 
ests of  the  individual,  or  on  the  ground  of  the 
attractive  and  influential  personality  of  some 
teacher  or  teachers. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  the 
value  of  an  elective  system  for  the  lowest  quar- 
ter of  a  college  class.  It  not  only  gets  much 


138  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

more  work  out  of  that  quarter,  but  also  offers 
them  their  only  chance  of  experiencing  an 
intellectual  awakening  while  in  college.  By 
following,  though  almost  unconsciously,  their 
natural  bent,  such  young  men  have  the  best 
chance  of  developing  some  power  of  applica- 
tion, and  some  desire  for  intellectual  achieve- 
ment. The  object  of  the  elective  system  for 
a  student  disposed  to  follow  the  line  of  least 
resistance  is  to  give  him  a  chance  to  get 
roused  from  his  childish  state  of  mind  and 
will,  and  to  feel  stirring  within  him  the  mo- 
tives of  a  considerate  and  fore-looking  adult. 
There  is  another  class  of  students  to  whom 
an  elective  method  is  a  great  blessing,  namely, 
the  late-developing  young  men,  and  the  young 
men  whose  minds  are  not  quickened  by  any 
of  the  subjects  usually  taught  in  secondary 
schools.  The  old  prescribed  college  curricu- 
lum, which  was  in  the  main  a  continuation 
of  school  subjects,  rarely  offered'  these  men 
any  new  advantages  or  opportunities  ;  but  the 
wide-ranging  elective  system  may  easily  give 
them  entrance  to  fields  in  which  they  have 


MIXING  STUDENTS  OF  DIFFERENT  AGES    139 

some  chance  to  excel.  Here,  again,  an  elective 
system  brings  opportunity,  and  with  it  inspi- 
ration and  hope. 

It  is  another  object  of  a  broad  elective  sys- 
tem to  mix  the  students  of  the  different  col- 
lege classes  together,  and  to  mix  graduates 
with  undergraduates  in  the  same  course.  Be- 
cause of  the  great  number  of  elective  courses 
offered  at  any  good  college,  it  is  quite  impos- 
sible for  any  single  student  to  pursue  more 
than  an  insignificant  fraction  of  them  dur- 
ing his  total  residence  at  the  college.  It  may 
easily  be  the  interest  of  a  student  belonging 
to  a  higher  college  class  to  pursue  with  mem- 
bers of  a  lower  class  an  elective  course  which 
he  has  not  previously  taken.  Moreover,  a 
graduate  of  the  same  college,  or  of  some  other 
college,  may  desire  to  take  up,  after  he  has 
obtained  his  first  degree,  some  studies  which 
he  did  not  have  time  to  enter  upon  during  his 
college  course,  or  had  not  felt  the  need  of  pur- 
suing. In  consequence,  almost  every  course  of 
instruction  largely  resorted  to  in  colleges  where 
the  elective  system  is  broad  contains  gradu- 


140  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

ates,  members  of  all  the  college  classes,  and 
special  students  all  mixed  together.  When 
a  scientific  school  makes  part  of  the  insti- 
tution, some  of  the  scientific  courses  will  also 
be  resorted  to  simultaneously  by  members 
of  all  the  different  classes.  This  mixing 
of  students  of  different  ages,  and  different 
academic  status,  is  an  unqualified  advantage ; 
provided  that  all  are  united  in  a  common  pur- 
pose to  master  the  course  they  are  attending 
together.  The  younger  student  from  a  lower 
class  is  stimulated  by  the  older  men  with 
whom  he  associates,  and  if  all  the  attendants 
are  qualified  to  pursue  the  study  to  advan- 
tage, the  older  men  suffer  no  harm. 

When  the  Graduate  School  of  Arts  and 
Sciences  was  first  established  in  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, in  the  spring  of  1872,  the  adoption  of 
rules  determining  the  period  of  residence  and 
the  examinations  for  the  higher  degrees  was 
accompanied  by  a  vote  opening  all  the  elective 
courses  of  instruction  in  Harvard  College  to 
Bachelors  of  Arts  of  Harvard  College,  and  of 
all  other  colleges.  The  reason  for  this  vote 


GROUPING  STUDENTS  BY  SUBJECT      141 

was  that  no  undergraduate  during  his  four 
years'  course  could  take  more  than  a  fifth  part 
of  the  instruction  the  College  then  offered ; 
so  that  the  student  who  had  just  received  his 
Bachelor's  degree  might  well  find  at  least  a 
year's  work  among  those  college  electives 
which  he  could  not  pursue  while  an  under- 
graduate. What  was  true  of  Harvard  Bache- 
lors of  Arts  was  still  more  likely  to  be  true  of 
the  recent  graduates  of  other  colleges.  Thirty 
years  later,  the  number  of  courses  of  instruc- 
tion offered  in  Harvard  College  and  the  Grad- 
uate School  had  greatly  increased;  so  that 
the  correctness  of  the  principle  laid  down 
by  anticipation  in  1872  has  been  abundantly 
demonstrated.  Graduate  and  undergraduate 
students  are  to  be  found  together  in  scores 
of  the  courses  of  instruction  now  offered  by 
Harvard  University,  although  there  are  also 
many  advanced  courses  in  which  none  but 
graduates  appear.  This  grouping  of  older  and 
younger  students  by  subject  is  one  distinct 
object  of  the  elective  system,  although  a  sub- 
ordinate one. 


142  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

The  grouping  of  students  of  various  ages 
and  various  academic  standing  by  their  sub- 
jects of  study  has  certain  valuable  social  ef- 
fects. It  leads  to  intercourse  among  students 
based  on  like  tastes  and  intellectual  interests, 
particularly  in  elective  courses  which  are 
chosen  by  a  moderate  or  a  small  number  of 
students.  There  is  no  better  starting-point 
for  a  college  friendship  than  sympathy  in  an 
intellectual  pursuit,  or  than  a  common  devo- 
tion to  an  interesting  subject  or  an  interesting 
teacher. 

An  excellent  effect  of  the  election  of  his  own 
studies  by  each  individual  student  is  the  added 
sense  of  responsibility  which  this  freedom 
gives.  A  prescribed  course  alike  for  all  leaves 
no  freedom  to  the  student  in  his  studies,  and 
imposes  on  him  no  responsibility.  Here,  as 
everywhere  else,  it  is  only  under  a  regime  of 
liberty  that  the  individual  can  acquire  the  ca- 
pacity for  self-direction  and  self-control,  and 
the  sense  of  responsibility  for  his  own  conduct. 
A  college  in  which  a  good  elective  system  pre- 
vails furnishes  instruction  in  great  variety, 


STUDENTS  NOT  FREE  TO  DO  NOTHING    143 

offers  guidance  and  aid  in  the  daily  work  of 
the  student,  and  holds  rigid  examinations;  but 
it  throws  the  responsibility  of  selecting  his 
fields  of  work  on  the  student  himself.  Experi- 
ence has  shown  that  young  Americans  of  the 
college  age  possess  as  a  rule  the  intelligence 
and  character  to  win  mental  and  moral  profit 
from  this  responsibility.  To  provide  the  occa- 
sion and  the  means  for  this  great  profit  is  one 
important  object  of  an  elective  system. 

It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  in  these  days  to 
meet  the  unenlightened  criticism  which  used 
to  be  made  on  the  elective  system,  namely,  that 
choice  of  studies  for  college  youths  must  mean 
the  gratification  of  a  desire  not  to  study  at 
all.  Experience  has  demonstrated  that  there 
is  no  foundation  for  this  apprehension.  An 
elective  system  does  not  mean  liberty  to  do 
nothing.  It  allows  every  student  to  choose  his 
subjects  of  study;  but  the  amount  of  his  work 
remains  prescribed,  and  its  quality  is  tested 
by  means  of  periodical  examinations,  essays, 
laboratory  work,  and  frequent  conferences 
between  teacher  and  student.  Under  a  well- 


144  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

administered  elective  system  not  only  is  a 
minimum  of  attainment  prescribed,  but  there 
are  numerous  competitive  inducements  to 
strenuous  study.  As  a  method  in  education  it 
has  emphatically  a  moral  as  well  as  an  intel- 
lectual end. 

It  is  important  to  discriminate  between  the 
fundamental  principle  of  freedom  of  choice 
and  the  administrative  methods  which  exact 
from  each  student  a  reasonable  amount  of 
work,  and  estimate  the  quality  of  that  work. 
The  main  principle  being  settled  once  for  all, 
the  administrative  methods  will  be  capable 
of  indefinite  improvement.  Under  election, 
as  under  prescription,  it  is  an  altogether 
separate  question  whether  or  not  a  college 
chooses  to  retain  within  its  walls  young  men 
who  do  no  work,  or  who  will  work  only  in 
their  plays.  Under  an  elective  system,  quite  as 
well  as  under  a  prescribed  system,  a  college 
may  say  that  it  does  not  care  to  keep  young 
men  who  do  not  reach  a  certain  minimum  of 
attainment.  That  is  a  question  of  discipline, 
altogether  apart  from  the  question  whether 


ENFORCING  A  MINIMUM  ATTAINMENT    145 

studies  should  be  elective  or  prescribed.  A 
college  with  a  wide  range  of  elective  studies 
may  easily  be  the  strictest  of  colleges  with 
regard  to  the  minimum  attainment  of  its  stu- 
dents. Six  long-service  teachers  in  Harvard 
College  between  1850  and  1900  had  close  ob- 
servation of  the  minimum  attainment  of  stu- 
dents in  Harvard  College  between  the  years 
1849  and  1869  under  a  system  almost  com- 
pletely prescribed ;  and  since  1880  a  prolonged 
period  of  observation  of  the  minimum  attain- 
ment of  Harvard  undergraduates  under  a  sys- 
tem almost  completely  elective.  Comparing  the 
two  minima,  they  all  agreed  that  the  latter 
minimum  was  unquestionably  much  higher 
than  the  former.  This  result,  however,  was 
obtained  by  applying  during  the  later  period 
to  indifferent,  lazy,  and  incompetent  students 
a  stricter  supervision  than  was  exercised  over 
students  from  forty  to  sixty  years  ago.  It  is 
one  of  the  great  advantages  of  the  elective 
system  that  the  intelligent,  self-directing,  re- 
sponsible student  can  have  all  the  advantages  of 
freedom,  while  the  irresponsible,  thoughtless, 


146  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

or  lazy  student  can  be  made  to  do  some  work, 
without  driving  him  into  studies  for  which 
he  has  no  capacity  and  in  which  he  feels  no 
interest.  The  free  choice  of  studies  can  pre- 
vail under  a  variety  of  disciplinary  policies ;  it 
is  compatible  with  a  severe  exclusion  of  idlers 
and  dullards. 

It  is  time  to  consider  briefly  some  of  the 
limits  and  bounds  of  the  elective  system.  It  is 
only  in  the  Department  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
that  an  elective  system  has  wide  application. 
As  soon  as  a  young  man  has  chosen  his  pro- 
fession, his  series  of  studies  is  prescribed  to 
him  in  large  measure.  Every  student  in  a  pro- 
fessional school  has,  of  course,  chosen  his  pro- 
fession and  marked  out  his  life-work;  but  it 
is  only  a  small  proportion  of  college  students 
who  know  from  the  start  what  calling  they  are 
to  follow.  Many  of  the  professions  are  now 
divided  into  specialties,  each  of  which  involves 
a  peculiar  training.  Accordingly,  in  good  pro- 
fessional schools  there  is  a  moderate  appli- 
cation of  the  elective  principle,  designed  to 


LIMITS  OF  THE  SYSTEM  147 

enable  young  men  to  prepare  for  specialties  in 
their  profession.  Thus,  in  engineering  a  young 
man  may  be  sure  that  he  is  destined  to  be  a 
mechanical,  a  civil,  or  an  electrical  engineer; 
and  his  professional  studies  may  wisely  be 
determined  in  some  measure  by  the  foreknow- 
ledge of  this  specialty.  In  a  medical  school, 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  course,  the  students 
ought  to  have  a  moderate  range  of  elective 
studies,  in  order  that  they  may  begin  while 
in  the  school  the  preparation  for  medical  spe- 
cialties. 

In  general,  a  college  student  who  knows 
what  his  profession  is  to  be  will  ordinarily 
find  that  some  of  his  college  studies  are  prac- 
tically prescribed  for  him,  because  he  feels  the 
force  of  the  advice  to  take  certain  preliminary 
studies.  Thus,  the  young  man  destined  to  en- 
gineering will  inevitably  choose  a  large  amount 
of  mathematics  and  physics  during  his  college 
course;  and  a  young  man  who  is  destined 
for  medicine  will,  if  he  follow  good  advice, 
study  chemistry,  physics,  biology,  French,  and 
German  on  the  way  to  his  A.  B.  or  S.  B.  The 


148  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

student  who  has  no  clue  to  the  profession  he 
is  to  follow  will  be  guided  in  his  selection  of 
college  studies,  if  he  is  wise,  by  his  individual 
tastes,  inclinations,  and  capacities.  If  he  fol- 
lows this  guidance,  it  will  probably  turn  out, 
when  he  chooses  his  profession,  that  he  has 
already  taken  in  college  subjects  related  to  his 
future  professional  work ;  for  the  wise  choice 
of  the  profession  will  be  based  upon  the  same 
consideration  of  his  tastes  and  powers  which 
determined  his  choice  of  college  studies.  In 
both  kinds  of  choice,  the  wise  chooser  will  rely 
on  the  same  sort  of  guidance. 

In  a  well-managed  college  competent  advice 
is  always  offered  to  the  newcomer  in  planning 
his  own  schedule  of  studies;  but  the  main 
function  of  the  adviser  will  be  to  interpret 
the  printed  announcements,  time-tables,  and 
regulations,  and  to  show  him  how  to  lay  out 
his  own  course  with  due  regard  to  the  fences 
of  the  elective  system.  Thus,  for  young  men 
who  have  no  purpose  to  be  students,  the  mini- 
mum requirements  for  the  degree  afford  guid- 
ance which  they  can  disregard  only  at  consid- 


GUIDANCE  TO  SOUND  CHOICES          149 

erable  peril.  For  ambitious  young  men,  the 
rules  about  degrees  with  distinction  give  clear 
and  acceptable  guidance.  The  rules  for  ob- 
taining honors  at  graduation  also  afford  guid- 
ance for  students  who  desire  to  make  a  judi- 
cious specialization  in  their  studies. 

An  example  of  this  sort  of  guidance  may 
be  found  in  the  rules  about  Honors  in  Litera- 
ture in  Harvard  College.  The  requirements 
are  as  follows :  A  good  reading  knowledge  of 
at  least  two  languages,  one  ancient,  one  mod- 
ern; an  amount  of  reading  in  at  least  two 
literatures,  one  ancient,  one  modern,  which 
shall  be  satisfactory  to  the  Committee  on 
Honors  in  Literature;  an  acquaintance  with 
the  general  history  of  two  literatures,  one 
ancient,  one  modern,  to  be  tested  by  an  ex- 
amination; a  thorough  study  of  two  special 
subjects  from  two  different  literatures,  one 
ancient,  one  modern.  Such  rules  as  these 
will  give  good  guidance  to  any  real  student 
throughout  his  entire  college  course,  not  only 
in  the  selection  of  individual  courses,  but  in 
the  grouping  of  those  he  selects. 


150  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

The  largest  effect  of  the  elective  system  is 
that  it  makes  scholarship  possible,  not  only 
among  undergraduates,  but  among  graduate 
students  and  college  teachers.  While  college 
curricula  were  prescribed,  and  therefore  dealt 
almost  entirely  \vith  the  elements  of  the  sub- 
jects taught,  there  was  little  in  the  work  of  a 
college  teacher  which  stimulated  him  to  broad 
and  deep  intellectual  attainments.  His  col- 
lege work  became  an  absolute  routine.  Out- 
side of  the  college  he  perhaps  gave  popular 
lectures,  or  compiled  school  and  college  text- 
books, or  preached,  if  a  minister,  as  he  often 
was.  He  but  seldom  became  an  advanced  stu- 
dent or  investigator;  and  when  in  rare  cases 
he  did  become  a  real  scholar,  it  was  by  force 
of  innate  genius  impelling  him  to  advanced 
work  under  most  unfavorable  conditions. 

Since  the  elective  system  became  the  gen- 
eral practice  of  the  American  colleges  and 
universities,  so  far  as  their  resources  have 
permitted,  the  whole  aspect  of  the  profession 
of  teaching  in  the  higher  institutions  of  learn- 
ing has  changed.  Even  the  young  teachers 


SCHOLARSHIP  MADE  POSSIBLE          151 

have  received  each  a  competent  training  in 
some  specialty,  while  the  assistant  professors 
and  professors  are  always  chosen  from  men 
who  have  demonstrated  their  capacity  for  per- 
sistent, productive,  scholarly  work.  A  success- 
ful professor  is  an  enthusiastic  student,  an 
inspiring  teacher,  and  an  indefatigable  inves- 
tigator. In  all  departments  of  scholarly  work, 
such  as  modern  languages,  classics,  oriental 
languages  and  literatures,  history,  economics, 
botany,  and  zoology,  there  now  exist  societies 
or  associations  which  bring  together  statedly 
scholars  in  these  specialties  from  all  the  uni- 
versities and  scientific  establishments  of  the 
country.  Fifty  years  ago,  these  societies  for 
specialists  were  unknown.  They  are  now  nu- 
merous, and  their  number  and  strength  mark 
the  arrival  of  the  American  scholar,  not  as 
an  accidental  product  outside  of  the  teaching 
profession,  but  as  a  well-equipped  professional 
man,  systematically  produced  in  and  for  the 
higher  institutions  of  education. 

It  is  difficult  for  the  present  generation  to 
imagine  the  condition  of  the  American  col- 


152  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

leges  when  there  was  no  instruction  given  in 
any  of  them  beyond  the  elementary  courses  in 
the  few  arts  and  sciences  which  led  to  the  A.  B. 
With  few  and  narrow  exceptions,  no  instruc- 
tion in  arts  and  sciences,  that  could  possibly 
be  called  advanced,  was  given  in  the  Ameri- 
can colleges  before  the  Civil  War.  Down  to 
1872  there  was  no  systematic  provision  made 
at  Harvard  University  for  instruction  in  arts 
and  sciences  beyond  the  Senior  year  of  the 
College.  If  any  young  man  wanted  to  pursue 
the  study  of  literature,  history,  philosophy, 
or  science  beyond  the  limit  set  by  the  require- 
ments for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  he 
had  to  go  to  Europe.  No  other  gain  from 
the  elective  system  can  be  compared  with 
this  development  of  scholarship  in  the  United 
States. 

In  any  college  or  university  which  under- 
takes to  present  a  series  of  graded  courses  in 
all  the  common  subjects  of  knowledge,  elec- 
tion of  studies  in  some  large  measure  by  the 
individual  student,  or  selection  for  him,  is 
absolutely  inevitable;  for  no  single  student 


FREEDOM  WITH  RESPONSIBILITY        153 

can  take  in  three  or  four  years  more  than  a 
small  fraction  of  the  instruction  in  the  liberal 
arts  offered  at  such  an  institution.  But  if 
election  by  the  individual  with  the  natural  aids 
works  well  in  practice,  it  is  of  course  to  be 
preferred  to  any  method  of  selection  for  the 
individual  by  an  authority  outside  himself, 
since  freemen  are  best  trained  by  practice 
in  freedom  with  responsibility.  Now,  the  ex- 
perience of  forty  years  in  a  great  variety  of 
American  institutions  has  proved  that  elec- 
tion by  the  individual  works  well,  wherever 
the  administrative  methods  which  should  ac- 
company such  an  elective  system  have  been 
well  devised  and  well  executed.  Hence,  the 
system  is  not  only  inevitable,  but  in  the  high- 
est degree  expedient  and  profitable. 

Inasmuch  as  Harvard  University  has  a  wider 
elective  system  than  any  other  American  in- 
stitution, and  has  devised  successful  adminis- 
trative methods  in  connection  with  the  system, 
it  is  fair  to  use  the  experience  there  obtained 
as  evidence  of  the  superiority  of  election  by 
the  student  over  selection  for  the  student  by 


154  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

faculty,  administrative  board,  dean,  or  other 
authority.  The  results  obtained  at  Harvard 
University  may  be  conveniently  discussed 
under  six  heads. 

(1)  The  elective  system  permits  the  student 
to  concentrate  his  work  upon  the  subjects  in 
which  his  capacity  is  greatest,  and  so  to  make 
rewarding  progress  in  his  chosen  lines  of 
study.  This  freedom  for  the  student  to  special- 
ize has  the  great  incidental  advantage  of  de- 
veloping the  advanced  instruction  in  college, 
and  such  a  development,  limited  only  by  the 
pecuniary  resources  of  the  institution,  will 
result  from  every  well-administered  elective 
system,  and  cannot  be  obtained  so  promptly 
and  completely  under  any  other  system.  This 
specialization  might  conceivably  be  extreme, 
or  too  common,  under  free  election.  Has  it 
proved  so  ?  Not  at  Harvard  College.  The  or- 
dinary college  student  does  not  wish  to  special- 
ize to  an  extreme.  The  number  of  students  in 
advanced  courses  at  Harvard  is  small  in  all 
departments.  The  great  body  of  the  under- 
graduates frequent  the  elementary  courses  in 


SPECIALIZATION  —  CONTINUITY          155 

languages,  mathematics,  history,  philosophy, 
economics,  government,  and  the  natural  sci- 
ences, wishing  to  obtain  initiatory  surveys  of 
many  fields  rather  than  a  detailed  knowledge 
of  one.  Twenty  years  ago,  it  was  demonstrated 
that  not  more  than  8%  of  the  undergradu- 
ates in  Harvard  College  wished  to  specialize 
their  work  to  any  high  degree,  and  all  sub- 
sequent experience  tends  the  same  way.  It  is 
only  in  the  Graduate  School  of  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences that  any  large  percentage  of  the  stu- 
dents tend  to  a  high  degree  of  specialization ; 
and  of  course  in  such  a  school  of  mature 
students,  specialization  is  wholly  desirable. 

(2)  What  does  the  experience  at  Harvard 
College  show  with  regard  to  the  wisdom  of 
the  choices  made  by  students  as  regards  con- 
tinuity of  study,  or  persistence  in  the  same  or 
kindred  studies,  from  year  to  year?  Critics  of 
the  elective  system  have  often  assumed  that 
free  choice  of  studies  would  generally  result 
in  a  capricious  selection  of  heterogeneous, 
elementary  studies  for  trivial  motives.  This 
criticism  is  founded,  not  on  observation  of 


156  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

the  actual  facts,  but  on  a  presupposition  as  to 
what  American  youth  would  be  likely  to  do. 
What  occurs  may  now  be  plainly  seen  by  any 
competent  person  who  will  patiently  examine 
the  records  of  the  students'  choices  at  Har- 
vard College  during  the  last  thirty-five  years. 
Careful  inspection  of  the  records  will  satisfy 
any  candid  mind  that  the  elective  system  does 
not  produce  the  evil  imagined ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  results  in  almost  all  cases  in  con- 
sistent plans  of  individual  study  throughout 
the  college  course.  Inconsecutive  or  aimless 
selections  are  hard  to  find.  More  than  twenty 
years  ago,  three  experts,  all  familiar  with  the 
relations  and  sequences  of  the  courses  of  in- 
struction given  during  the  period  of  1881  to 
1885,  carefully  examined  the  entire  series  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty  choices  made  by  the 
students  of  that  time,  being  the  entire  classes 
of  1884  and  1885  in  Harvard  College.  They 
endeavored,  independently  of  each  other,  to 
pick  out  those  selections  which,  in  their  judg- 
ment, lacked  coherency  or  consecutiveness. 
These  three  agreed  upon  only  six  cases  of 


CHOICES  ARE  COHERENT  157 

incoherence  —  three  in  the  class  of  '84,  and 
three  in  the  class  of  '85.  Two  out  of  the 
three  experts — but  not  the  same  two  in  every 
instance  —  agreed  on  twenty-one  cases  within 
the  two  classes.  When  three  experts  cannot 
agree  that  a  given  selection  of  studies  lacks  co- 
herency, it  may  well  be  that  knowledge  of  the 
circumstances  and  conditions  under  which  the 
individual  selection  was  made  would  fully  ex- 
plain or  indeed  justify  it.  The  general  result 
of  this  particular  examination  was  that  inco- 
herent choices  were  very  few,  and  that  the 
intelligence  in  selection  was  nearly  as  great 
in  the  lower  half  of  a  class  as  in  the  upper. 
This  verdict  would  stand  unchanged  to-day, 
except  that  the  recent  gross  exaggeration  of 
athletic  sports  has  added  slightly  to  the  num- 
ber of  incoherent  or  wrong-motived  elections 
of  studies. 

When  thousands  of  young  men  thus  make 
for  themselves  judicious  and  coherent  selec- 
tions of  lines  of  study  which  run  through  three 
or  four  years,  it  is  plain  that  there  must 
be  some  guiding  principles,  or  demarcations, 


158  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

natural  or  artificial,  which  avail  to  make  free 
choice  judicious  in  the  main,  and  particularly 
to  make  it  coherent.  A  just  appreciation  of 
these  guiding  principles  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  an  understanding  of  the  elective  system. 
The  purely  natural  guides  are  obvious  and 
authoritative.  The  most  thoughtless  youth 
cannot  help  taking  up  a  new  subject  at  the 
beginning,  and  not  in  the  middle.  If  he  would 
continue  a  study  which  he  has  already  pur- 
sued, he  must  take  it  up  again  at  the  point 
where  he  left  off.  He  soon  discovers  that 
many  subjects  taught  at  a  university  cannot 
be  advantageously  studied  without  a  previous 
knowledge  of  some  other  subject,  or  subjects. 
He  perceives  that  every  advanced  course  pre- 
supposes acquaintance  with  some  elementary 
course,  or  courses,  in  the  same  department. 
He  obeys  the  natural  tendency  to  pursue  a 
congenial  subject,  once  entered  on.  To  be 
sure,  in  order  to  render  these  natural  guides 
effective,  the  Faculty  must  supply  full  infor- 
mation about  the  inevitable  sequence  of  studies 
in  each  department,  and  the  mutual  depend- 


ELEMENTARY  COURSES  WISELY  CHOSEN    159 

ence  of  related  courses.  The  giving  of  this 
information  in  clear  and  compact  form  is  an 
important  part  of  the  administrative  regula- 
tion which  must  accompany  any  successful 
elective  system. 

Students  who,  while  in  college,  discover  what 
their  future  profession  is  to  be,  have  another 
natural  guide  through  the  intricacies  of  a  wide 
elective  system.  They  can,  and  do,  select  those 
college  subjects  which  afford  the  best  foun- 
dation for  their  future  professional  studies.  It 
has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  rules  con- 
cerning honors  and  degrees  with  distinction 
give  a  certain  amount  of  artificial  guidance 
towards  effective  groups  of  studies. 

(3)  It  has  been  supposed  that  American 
students,  when  allowed  to  choose  their  studies, 
would  simply  inquire  for  the  easiest  courses, 
and  take  them.  Such  critics  point  to  the 
courses  which  are  selected  by  large  numbers 
of  students  in  any  college  with  a  wide  elective 
system,  and  say  these  largely  attended  courses 
are  all  elementary,  therefore  they  must  be 
easy,  and  they  are  chosen  because  they  are 


160  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

easy.  Neither  part  of  this  proposition  is  founded 
on  fact.  The  elementary  courses  in  a  well- 
conducted  college  ought  to  be  as  well  taught 
as  any  others,  and  ought  not  to  be  easy  in  any 
proper  sense.  They  are  chosen  by  large  num- 
bers because  they  relate  to  subjects  concerning 
which  almost  all  students  want  to  know  some- 
thing. They  represent  in  part  the  courses  which 
used  to  make  up  the  old  prescribed  curriculum 
in  the  American  colleges,  only  they  are  now 
taught  in  a  much  more  interesting  and  effective 
manner.  They  deal,  indeed,  with  the  inevitable 
subjects  of  the  less  advanced  courses  under 
any  conceivable  college  system,  prescribed 
or  elective.  In  the  languages  and  mathe- 
matics these  courses  carry  on  instruction  from 
the  more  elementary  stages  already  reached 
at  school;  in  philosophy,  political  economy, 
history,  and  the  natural  sciences  they  are  the 
necessary  courses  for  beginners,  that  is,  they 
are  the  only  gates  to  the  more  advanced 
courses.  They  treat  of  topics  full  of  interest 
for  the  general  mass  of  the  students.  They 
are  selected  by  college  students  who  wish  to 


THE  GROUP  SYSTEM  161 

carry  on  the  studies  they  have  previously  pur- 
sued, or  to  take  up  new  subjects  early  in  their 
college  course  in  preparation  for  more  ad- 
vanced instruction  in  the  later  years.  They 
are  prudently  selected  by  young  men  of  limited 
capacity  who  cannot  succeed  in  the  more  ad- 
vanced courses.  They  also  afford  the  most  pro- 
mising refuges  for  the  few  lazy  students  who 
exist,  and  will  exist,  under  all  college  systems. 
(4)  In  extending  the  elective  system  into 
secondary  schools,  and  in  introducing  it  into 
some  colleges,  a  system  called  the  group  sys- 
tem has  naturally  come  into  use,  because  it 
is  cheaper  and  easier  to  administer  than  a 
thoroughgoing  elective  system.  A  consider- 
able show  of  options  for  the  individual  may 
be  made  by  grouping  a  moderate  number  of 
studies  in  several  different  ways.  Thus  in  a 
high  school,  nine  or  ten  groups,  bearing  as 
many  different  names,  can  easily  be  made  with 
from  twenty  to  thirty  different  studies  during 
a  total  school  course  of  four  years.  Certain 
studies  will  appear  in  all  the  groups,  though 
in  varying  proportions,  while  other  studies 


162  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

will  appear  only  in  three  or  four  groups,  and 
others  in  only  one  or  two.  This  is  an  econo- 
mical mode  of  producing  an  effect  of  large 
variety.  There  are,  however,  serious  objections 
to  the  group  system  in  schools,  and  still  more 
in  colleges.  When,  under  a  free  elective  sys- 
tem like  that  of  Harvard,  individuals  exercise 
freely  their  spontaneous  diversity  of  choice,  it 
will  appear  in  the  end  that  no  two  individ- 
uals follow  the  same  path  through  a  course 
of  four  years.  Out  of  hundreds  or  thousands 
of  four-year  selections,  no  two  will  he  found 
to  be  exactly  alike.  This  diversity  corresponds 
to  the  infinite  diversity  of  mind  and  charac- 
ter in  the  choosers.  No  two  minds  will  spon- 
taneously elect  the  same  studies  in  the  same 
proportions  and  in  the  same  sequence.  Minds 
left  in  freedom  do  not  fall  into  nine  or  ten 
categories,  or  fit  into  artificial  groups  of 
studies  arbitrarily  compounded  by  some  other 
mind.  It  is,  moreover,  quite  unnecessary  for 
some  authority  to  prescribe  these  arbitrary 
groups  of  studies,  inasmuch  as  all  desirable 
concentration  and  continuity  of  work  can  be 


OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  GROUP  SYSTEM    163 

secured  without  doing  such  violence  to  liberty 
of  choice.  The  group  system  is  also  objection- 
able because  it  commits  a  schoolboy  of  four- 
teen, or  a  college  student  of  eighteen,  to  a  set 
of  studies  from  which  he  will  find  it  difficult 
to  escape  later  in  his  course,  however  much 
he  may  wish  to.  There  is  no  need  of  this  early 
committal,  either  in  high  school  or  college. 
To  impose  upon  a  boy  for  several  years  an  ill- 
fitting  group  of  studies  from  which  he  can 
hardly  extricate  himself,  is  a  much  more  seri- 
ous matter  than  to  allow  him  to  choose  amiss 
one  or  two  studies  which  he  can  easily  replace. 

Again,  the  group  system  does  not  give 
every  teacher  the  precious  privilege  enjoyed 
under  a  system  of  free  election,  the  privilege 
of  having  no  student  in  his  class  who  has  not 
chosen  to  be  there.  The  group  system  forces 
a  student  who  desires  to  study  some  of  the 
subjects  which  compose  a  group  to  take  the 
rest,  in  which  he  may  have  no  such  inter- 
est, and  consequently  it  compels  teachers  to 
receive  reluctant  pupils. 

Lastly,  the  group  system,  if  enforced,  com- 


164  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

pels  specialization  in  studies,  a  kind  of  com- 
pulsion which  is  peculiarly  unwarrantable.  If 
the  student  be  permitted  to  cut  across  the 
groups — as  often  happens  in  practice — and 
so  to  make  up  his  own  course  of  study,  the 
avowed  objects  of  the  group  system  will  be 
defeated,  and  the  school  or  college  might  as 
well  have  a  free  elective  system  within  the 
limits  which  its  resources  impose.  In  short, 
the  group  system  is  only  to  be  recommended 
as  a  temporary  makeshift,  while  resources  are 
narrow,  or  the  raw  material  of  a  school  or 
college  is  crude. 

(5)  An  elective  system  leads  to  a  great  in- 
crease of  intercourse  between  teachers  and 
students  for  intellectual  objects,  and  of  spon- 
taneous association  for  the  same  objects  among 
the  students.  Conferences,  clubs,  and  societies 
are  maintained  by  young  men  who  find  them- 
selves associated  in  the  pursuit  of  the  same, 
or  kindred,  studies,  for  the  discussion  of  sub- 
jects connected  with  these  studies.  The  plea- 
sure and  profit  derived  from  these  societies 
or  clubs  are  much  enhanced  by  the  variety  of 


SIGNIFICATION  OF  THE  A.  B.  165 

studies  and  intellectual  interests  found  among 
the  members  of  each  society,  alongside  of  the 
common  study ;  for  to  the  benefits  and  de- 
lights of  intellectual  companionship  diversity 
of  gifts  and  acquisitions  contributes  quite  as 
much  as  community  of  interests.  Every  small 
elective  course,  every  laboratory  course,  and 
every  seminary  or  conference  at  Harvard  is 
a  focus  of  common  intellectual  interests,  and 
the  occasion  of  profitable  personal  relations 
between  teachers  and  students. 

(6)  It  has  been  a  common  criticism  of  the 
elective  system  that  inasmuch  as  no  two  can- 
didates for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts 
will  have  pursued  the  same  studies  in  the 
same  proportions,  the  degree  itself  cannot  have 
a  definite,  constant  signification  alike  for  all 
its  recipients.  Fortunately,  it  is  quite  true 
that  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  the 
United  States  no  longer  means  that  the  young 
men  and  women  who  hold  it  have  passed 
through  the  same  course  of  studies.  Neverthe- 
less, the  possession  of  this  degree  testifies  that 
the  holder  has  enjoyed  certain  valuable  privi- 


166  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

leges,  and  made  certain  definite  attainments. 
All  Bachelors  of  Arts  have  spent  from  seven 
to  ten  years  somewhere  between  the  ages  of 
thirteen  and  twenty-three  in  studies  properly 
called  liberal.  At  school  they  have  all  learnt 
the  elements  of  Latin,  and  of  some  modern 
language  besides  English,  the  elements  of 
mathematics,  a  little  ancient  history,  and 
something  of  English  literature ;  and  in  some 
foreign  language,  and  in  mathematics,  they 
went  somewhat  beyond  the  bare  elements.  At 
Harvard  College  they  have  further  spent  three 
or  four  years  upon  a  prescribed  quantity  of 
liberal  studies,  —  all  studies  being  accounted 
liberal  which  are  pursued  in  the  scientific  spirit 
for  truth's  sake,  and  as  means  of  intellectual 
discipline.  The  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts 
therefore  remains  the  common  goal  of  liberal 
study  pursued  through  many  years.  In  many 
institutions  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science 
or  Bachelor  of  Philosophy  has  a  similar  signi- 
fication, except  that  the  terms  of  admission  to 
the  course  of  study  which  leads  to  this  degree 
have  generally  been  lower  than  those  to  the 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  HIGHER  DEGREES    167 

course  which  leads  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts. 

The  objection  —  if  it  be  an  objection  — 
that  the  A.  B.  has  no  definite  and  uniform 
signification  applies  with  much  more  force  to 
the  higher  degrees  of  Master  of  Arts  or  Sci- 
ence and  Doctor  of  Philosophy  or  Science. 
No  one  of  these  degrees  has  any  definite  sig- 
nification in  regard  to  subjects  of  study  or 
specific  achievements. 

It  will  now  be  obvious  that  the  advantages 
of  an  elective  system  in  a  college  cannot  be 
reaped,  unless  choice  of  studies  is  wide  open 
to  the  student  for  at  least  three  years.  Any 
college  which  keeps  the  curricula  for  the  Fresh- 
man and  Sophomore  years  mainly  prescribed, 
and  allows  free  election  only  in  the  Junior 
and  Senior  years,  must  fail  to  train  advanced 
students  except  in  those  subjects  which  are 
well  pursued  for  long  periods  in  secondary 
schools  as  well  as  in  colleges;  as,  for  instance, 
in  Latin,  Greek,  mathematics,  English,  and 
history.  A  college  student  in  any  single  de- 
partment like  chemistry,  zoology,  philosophy, 


168  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

or  economics,  who  begins  his  study  of  that 
subject  not  far  from  its  elements,  must,  never- 
theless, follow  a  sequence  of  courses  through 
the  successive  half-years  of  his  college  course. 
Thus,  for  example,  he  cannot  attack  the  sub- 
ject of  quantitative  analysis  until  he  has  stud- 
ied general  chemistry  and  qualitative  analy- 
sis. For  developing  this  sequence  properly,  he 
needs  several  half-years.  If  he  has  but  two 
years  in  all  to  give  to  the  subject,  a  proper 
sequence  will  not  bring  him  near  the  top  of 
his  subject. 

In  the  period  from  1870  to  1890— the  pe- 
riod of  the  rapid  development  of  the  elective 
system  at  Harvard  College  —  a  long  time 
elapsed  before  the  faculty  thought  it  pos- 
sible to  admit  Freshmen  to  the  elementary 
classes  in  economics  and  philosophy.  Fresh- 
men were  not  considered  mature  enough  for 
these  studies.  Accordingly,  the  students  who 
were  attracted  towards  these  subjects  found 
themselves  compelled  to  begin  them  in  the 
Sophomore  or  even  in  the  Junior  year.  Yet 
the  advanced  courses  could  not  be  attacked 


ITS  EFFECTS  ON  TEACHERS  169 

until  the  long  elementary  course  had  been 
mastered.  Experience  of  the  difficulty  of  pro- 
ducing advanced  students  of  these  subjects 
under  such  conditions  within  the  period  of 
college  residence,  finally  led  the  faculty  to 
risk  abandoning  its  theory  that  a  young 
American  of  nineteen  was  not  prepared  to 
grapple  with  either  of  these  subjects.  By  trial 
they  made  the  encouraging  discovery  that 
some  Freshmen  are  more  mature  than  some 
Seniors.  In  general,  an  elective  system  limited 
to  two  years  will  fail  to  develop  advanced 
teachers,  as  well  as  advanced  students,  unless, 
indeed,  they  can  expand  and  continue  their 
college  teachings  in  a  graduate  school.  No- 
thing can  replace  for  a  teacher  the  inspiration 
and  incitement  of  training  a  few  genuine  ad- 
vanced students,  who  become  his  devoted  dis- 
ciples and  the  diffusers  of  his  doctrines.  The 
attention  of  faculties  and  the  public  has  been 
too  often  concentrated  on  the  effects  of  the 
elective  system  on  young  students;  whereas 
its  effects  on  teachers,  and  on  the  develop- 
ment of  real  scholarship  throughout  the  coun- 


170  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

try,  ought  to  have  received  more  attention ; 
for  it  is  there  that  its  effects  have  been  the 
most  beneficent. 

The  expediency,  and  even  necessity,  of  a 
broad  elective  system  in  colleges  will  be  seen 
clearly  by  all  those  who  consider  the  great 
variety  of  professional  studies  for  which  a 
modern  college  prepares  its  graduates.  In 
a  properly  constituted  university,  all  the  pro- 
fessional schools  will  prescribe  for  admission 
a  preliminary  degree,  such,  for  instance,  as 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  or  Bachelor 
of  Science.  Now  these  university  professional 
schools  divide  among  them  the  whole  field  of 
knowledge,  each  taking  so  large  a  region  that 
further  subdivision  becomes  necessary  in  order 
to  meet  the  wants  of  the  young  men  who  pur- 
pose to  practice  professional  specialties.  It  is 
perfectly  understood  that  under  each  profes- 
sional course  of  study  lie  certain  college  studies 
which  are  peculiarly  appropriate  to  that  pro- 
fessional course,  —  as,  for  instance,  mathe- 
matics and  physics  in  preparation  for  a  pro- 
fessional course  in  engineering ;  chemistry, 


AN  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM  IS  COSTLY       171 

physics,  and  biology  as  preliminary  to  the 
study  of  medicine ;  and  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew, 
and  philosophy  as  preliminary  to  the  appro- 
priate studies  of  a  divinity  school.  When, 
therefore,  the  American  universities  come  to 
be  properly  organized,  with  their  professional 
departments  on  top  of  their  colleges  and  sci- 
entific schools,  and  are  therefore  closed  to 
young  men  who  have  had  no  college  or  scien- 
tific school  training,  the  expediency  and  ne- 
cessity of  free  election  of  studies  in  college 
will  be  amply  demonstrated. 

Looking  back  on  the  development  of  the 
elective  system  in  the  American  colleges  and 
universities  during  the  past  thirty  years,  one 
sees  that  the  rate  of  the  development  and  the 
width  of  the  resulting  system  in  each  case  has 
been  in  the  main  a  question  of  the  pecuniary 
resources  of  the  institution.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  a  prescribed  system  is  indefinitely  cheaper 
than  an  elective  system;  for  with  only  one 
curriculum  of  elementary  courses  to  provide, 
a  college  can  get  along  with  a  comparatively 
small  number  of  inferior  teachers.  A  broad 


172  THE  ELECTIVE  SYSTEM 

elective  system  requires  many  teachers  of  high 
quality ;  a  prescribed  curriculum  needs  only  a 
few  teachers,  and  those  need  not  be  advanced 
students  or  investigators.  A  professor  who 
gives  half  his  time  to  advanced  work  with 
classes  of  five  to  fifteen  students  is  a  far  more 
costly  article  than  a  professor  who  deals  only 
with  classes  of  fifty  to  two  hundred  students. 
Nevertheless,  the  great  increase  in  number 
and  merit  of  the  teaching  staff  in  American 
universities  of  late  years  is  not  all  due  to  the 
development  of  the  elective  system.  A  signifi- 
cant part  of  the  increased  expense  for  salaries 
is  due  to  the  increased  amount  of  individual 
instruction  given  to  students  by  experts  in 
their  several  subjects.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say 
that  although  this  increased  cost  has  hindered 
many  institutions  in  the  process  of  develop- 
ing a  wide  elective  system,  the  money  thus 
spent  is  the  most  productive  of  all  educational 
expenditures. 

Finally,  the  permanence  of  the  elective  sys- 
tem is  assured  by  the  demonstrated  fact  that 
it  provides  on  a  large  scale  an  invaluable 


AN  ADDITION  TO  HUMAN  FREEDOM     173 

addition  to  human  freedom,  and  provides  this 
precious  freedom  for  the  most  highly  trained, 
and  therefore  the  most  productive  and  influ- 
ential, persons.  When  the  student  of  history 
reviews  the  great  achievements  of  the  human 
race,  he  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  those 
achievements  which  have  brought  deliverance 
from  some  form  of  terror  or  oppression,  or 
have  been  gains  for  some  sort  of  freedom, 
have  proved  to  be  institutionally  the  most 
durable  achievements,  —  one  might  almost  say 
the  only  durable. 


METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

METHODS  of  university  instruction  have 
changed  almost  completely  within  fifty  years. 
The  method  of  recitation  from  a  book  is  al- 
most extinct,  except  in  language  instruction ; 
the  lecture  method,  after  being  greatly  ex- 
panded, has  been  subsequently  reduced  quan- 
titatively, and  much  changed  in  quality;  the 
laboratory  method  with  its  congeners  has  been 
introduced,  and  now  occupies  a  large  part  of 
the  field;  and  the  demand  made  on  the  stu- 
dent for  written  work  of  many  sorts — themes, 
note-books,  problems,  reports,  and  theses  — 
has  become  incessant.  Fifty  years  ago,  the  uni- 
versity teacher  at  the  end  of  the  hour  gave 
out  a  lesson  in  a  text-book — so  many  pages — 
and  expected  his  class  to  recite  that  lesson  to 
him  at  the  next  meeting.  Fifteen  or  twenty 
students  would  take  part  in  this  recitation, 
which  was  in  the  main  an  exercise  of  the 


THE  RECITATION  METHOD  175 

memory.  The  student  recited  a  bit  of  the  book ; 
the  teacher  ordinarily  made  no  comment  what- 
ever on  a  good  recitation,  confining  himself  to 
efforts  to  extract  some  fragments  of  the  text 
from  the  incompetent  or  neglectful  members 
of  the  class.  The  good  students  could  of  course 
derive  no  profit  whatever  from  such  an  exer- 
cise, except  practice  in  making  a  brief  state- 
ment from  memory  before  the  class.  The  poor 
students  made  public  exhibition  of  their  insuf- 
ficiency ;  but  were  seldom  either  mortified  or 
stimulated  thereby,  for  experience  taught  them 
that  the  consequences  of  habitual  failure  in 
recitations  were  not  serious — they  remained  in 
college,  if  they  were  regular  in  attendance  on 
prescribed  exercises,  both  secular  and  religious. 
Fifty  years  ago,  the  lectures  were  few  in 
number,  and  were  not  supported,  as  lectures 
are  to-day,  by  lantern-slide  illustrations,  and  by 
combination  with  note-taking,  prescribed  read- 
ing, quizzes,  and  examinations.  The  lecture 
courses  were  short,  and  lay  outside  the  main 
system.  They  were,  however,  oases  of  intel- 
lectual interest  in  a  thirsty  land.  In  those  days 


176  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

there  were  no  laboratories  open  to  college 
undergraduates ;  so  that  the  individualistic 
teaching  of  students  in  laboratories,  now  so 
common,  was  then  unknown  except  in  a  few 
embryonic  scientific  schools. 

The  prime  object  of  university  methods  of 
teaching  to-day  is  to  make  the  individual  stu- 
dent think,  and  do  something  himself,  and 
not  merely  to  take  in  and  remember  other 
people's  thoughts ;  to  induce  the  student  to  do 
some  thinking  and  acting  on  his  own  account, 
and  not  merely  to  hear  or  read  about  other 
people's  doings.  Bearing  this  main  object 
in  mind,  the  student  of  educational  adminis- 
tration will  review  with  interest  the  various 
methods  of  instruction  now  in  use. 

The  recitation  still  persists  and  will  persist  in 
the  language  departments  of  a  university.  In 
a  recitation  the  student  can  be  called  upon  to 
translate  the  foreign  language  into  English,  to 
comment  on  the  text,  and  to  translate  English 
into  the  foreign  language.  He  can  read  aloud 
in  the  foreign  language,  and  write  it  from 
dictation.  These  are  all  acts  indispensable  to 


USE  OF  THE  RECITATION  177 

his  acquiring  the  language ;  and,  on  the  whole, 
experience  has  shown  that  these  activities  on 
the  student's  part  are  the  most  helpful  pro- 
cesses in  acquiring  any  new  language.  To  that 
end  the  recitation  is  the  most  profitable  exer- 
cise which  has  been  invented.  Experience  has 
proved,  however,  that  for  the  individual  stu- 
dent the  recitation  is  advantageous  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  fewness  of  the  students  who 
take  part  in  it.  It  requires  a  very  skilful  and 
energetic  teacher  to  make  a  language  reci- 
tation profitable  for  a  class  numbering  more 
than  thirty  or  thirty-five  students.  Twenty 
to  twenty-five  members  is  a  wiser  limit  for  the 
average  teacher. 

Beyond  the  language  departments  the  use- 
fulness of  the  recitation  in  universities  is 
rather  limited.  It  can  be  used  in  small  propor- 
tion in  connection  with  large  lecture  courses, 
and  is  there  often  called  the  quiz ;  and  it  may 
also  be  applied  in  a  rather  different  form  in 
those  elementary  subjects  which  require  drill 
on  problems  or  applications,  as,  for  instance, 
in  mathematics,  and  parts  of  physics,  and  in 


178  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

formal  logic.  Such  use  of  the  reciting  method 
for  drilling  students  together  in  problem- 
solving  is  facilitated  by  the  provision  of  large 
blackboard  areas  in  the  rooms  used.  Every 
member  of  a  section  or  class  can  then  be 
kept  at  work  for  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  hour,  and  yet  the  whole  class  will  see 
the  solutions  of  a  large  part  of  the  problems 
given  out. 

In  some  university  departments  the  lecture 
became  the  principal  means  of  instruction  as 
the  recitation  was  abandoned;  but  it  was  the 
unaided  lecture  in  the  least  commendable  forms. 
Thus  in  teaching  law  the  professors  gave  series 
of  lectures  which  constituted  treatises  on  the 
several  branches  of  the  law,  and  gave  the  same 
lectures  year  after  year.  They  referred  students 
to  cases,  but  the  attitude  of  the  student  was 
purely  receptive;  the  student  took  no  part  in 
the  exercise,  he  was  merely  listening  and  taking 
notes;  and  no  pains  were  taken  to  make  sure 
that  he  mastered,  or  even  looked  at,  the  cases 
referred  to.  When  the  law  professor  had  pub- 
lished a  series  of  treatises,  his  lectures  often 


USE  OF  THE  LECTURE  179 

degenerated  into  running  comment  on  his 
printed  books. 

In  medicine,  the  pure  lecture,  without  illus- 
tration, prevailed  to  an  astonishing  extent. 
Even  the  clinical  teaching  was  given  largely 
by  lectures  of  a  descriptive  or  expository  kind, 
often  without  simultaneous  exhibition  of  spe- 
cimens or  pictures.  In  the  Harvard  Medical 
School  of  fifty  years  ago,  there  was  no  labora- 
tory open  to  students  except  the  disorderly 
and  dirty  dissecting-room ;  but  for  nearly  four 
months  of  the  year  there  were  five  consecutive 
lectures  —  humorously  called  didactic  lec- 
tures— on  as  many  different  subjects  every 
morning  during  the  week.  To  be  sure,  medi- 
cal education  had  another  side  which  saved  it 
from  habitual  failure,  —  the  observation  work 
in  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  and  the  memory 
work  on  manuals  and  dictionaries  of  medicine 
and  surgery. 

In  the  arts  and  sciences,  lectures  during  the 
first  half  of  the  period  under  consideration 
—  the  past  fifty  years — gradually  displaced 
the  recitation,  the  lecturers  relying  on  periodic 


180  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

examinations  to  test  the  industry  of  the  stu- 
dents and  their  own  success;  but  gradually 
the  university  faculties  became  convinced  that 
the  plain  lecture,  without  carefully  organized 
aids,  was  an  unsuccessful  method  of  teaching, 
because  it  left  the  student  in  a  passive  and 
inactive  condition,  and  procured  from  him  no 
output,  except  spasmodic  efforts  of  memory 
just  before  the  periodic  examinations.  The 
last  twenty  years  have  seen  a  great  reduction 
in  the  number  of  lectures,  and  the  invention 
of  various  supplements  to  the  work  of  the 
lecturer,  and  of  requirements  accompanying 
attendance  at  lectures. 

The  first  of  these  supplements  is  prescribed 
reading.  This  reading  is  of  various  kinds  and 
degrees  in  different  subjects,  and  under  dif- 
ferent professors.  Sometimes  it  consists  of  a 
series  of  books  used  thoroughly  one  at  a  time ; 
sometimes  of  three  or  four  books  to  be  used 
simultaneously,  though  in  parts  only ;  some- 
times of  a  long  list  of  books  from  which  the 
student  may  make  his  own  selections,  or  to 
•which  the  lecturer  will  make  specific  refer- 


PRESCRIBED  READING  181 

ences  from  day  to  day.  The  selection  of  this 
reading  matter  is  an  important  part  of  the 
professor's  function.  If  he  recommends  only 
a  few  books,  the  student  may  reasonably  be 
expected  to  buy  them  ;  but  if  he  recommends 
many,  ownership  on  the  part  of  the  student 
is  impossible,  and  it  becomes  the  business  of 
the  university  library  or  of  the  department's 
library  to  supply  them.  This  involves  large 
expenditures  for  books  on  the  part  of  the 
university,  if  the  number  of  students  in  the 
courses  concerned  be  large.  The  library  must 
be  enabled  to  provide  many  copies  of  books 
often  referred  to ;  and  to  keep  accessible  in  the 
reading-rooms  thousands  of  books  which  are 
not  allowed  to  leave  the  library,  and  are  there- 
fore called  reserved  books.  At  many  Ameri- 
can universities  arrangements  of  this  sort  have 
been  successfully  made,  and  are  in  good  work- 
ing order. 

The  books  having  been  selected  and  made 
accessible,  how  shall  the  lecturer  know  that 
his  students  make  use  of  them ;  and  how  can 
he  ascertain  at  the  same  time  whether  his  stu- 


182  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

dents  are  absorbing  what  he  says  to  them, 
and  reflecting  on  it?  To  accomplish  these 
objects,  two  methods  are  in  use,  —  periodi- 
cal written  examinations,  and  frequent  oral 
or  partly  oral  conferences  or  recitations  con- 
ducted by  assistants. 

Written  examinations  lasting  one,  two,  or 
three  hours  are  held  at  intervals  of  about 
two  months  or  oftener.  If  four  examinations 
are  held  during  the  year,  two  of  them  may  be 
three-hour  examinations,  and  the  other  two 
one-hour.  This  method  is  open  to  the  objec- 
tion that  the  students  may  work  hard  only 
spasmodically,  namely,  shortly  before  each 
examination ;  the  rest  of  the  time  they  may 
be  in  a  passive  condition,  more  or  less  enter- 
tained and  interested,  perhaps,  but  not  using 
their  own  minds  actively  on  the  subject.  The 
method  is  good  enough  for  courses  of  instruc- 
tion which  are  intended  to  be  only  introduc- 
tions to  a  thorough  survey,  or  outline  sketches 
of  a  great  subject  for  persons  who  may,  or 
may  not,  propose  a  systematic  and  thorough 
study  of  it.  There  is  wholesome  use  in  a  uni- 


ENFORCING  REGULAR  WORK  183 

versity  for  courses  of  that  nature ;  but  they 
do  not  make  part  of  its  most  serious  and  pro- 
ductive work. 

In  order  to  enforce  regular  work  on  his 
lectures  and  on  the  prescribed  reading  of  his 
course,  the  professor  may  relinquish  one 
period  out  of  his  three  a  week,  or  one  period 
out  of  his  six  a  fortnight,  and  devote  that 
hour  to  a  wholly  different  kind  of  exercise, 
placing  this  exercise  in  the  charge  of  a  younger 
and  less  experienced  man,  who  holds  the  rank 
of  instructor  or  assistant.  If  the  class  be  a 
large  one,  —  several  hundreds, — it  should  be 
divided  into  sections  containing  not  more  than 
twenty-five  to  thirty  members.  The  exercise 
should  be  conducted  as  a  recitation  on  the 
lectures  and  reading  of  the  week,  or  fortnight, 
just  elapsed;  or  the  hour  maybe  divided  into 
two  parts,  the  first  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
being  devoted  to  writing  answers  to  a  single 
question  placed  before  the  whole  section,  and 
the  rest  of  the  period  to  oral  recitation  or  dis- 
cussion. A  skilful  and  alert  instructor  can 
sometimes  use  the  whole  hour  profitably  for 


184  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

active  discussion  with  the  students  before 
him,  —  discussion  in  which  the  students  them- 
selves take  the  major  part.  If  a  portion  of  the 
hour  be  given  to  writing,  the  papers  written 
should  be  corrected  and  graded  by  the  in- 
structor. The  exercise  should  always  afford 
the  means  of  ascertaining  whether  each  stu- 
dent in  the  course  has  been  attending  to  the 
subject  during  the  past  week,  or  fortnight, 
and  of  marking  or  grading  his  work. 

In  largely  attended  courses  one  instructor 
or  assistant  can  deal  effectively  with  two  or 
three  sections,  but  if  there  are  hundreds  of 
students  in  the  course,  several  instructors  or 
assistants  will  be  required.  These  men  ought 
always  to  be  selected  with  care  by  the  depart- 
ment, on  nomination  of  the  professor  most 
nearly  concerned  with  the  course.  They  should 
always  be  advanced  students  of  the  subject, 
and  holders  of  one  or  more  of  the  higher  de- 
grees of  the  university  they  serve,  or  of  some 
other  university.  On  their  attainments  and 
personal  quality  will  depend  in  good  measure 
the  effectiveness  of  the  course  in  which  they 


THE  WORK  OF  ASSISTANTS  185 

work,  and  the  success  of  the  professor.  If 
several  assistants  have  to  be  employed,  the 
professor  should  meet  them  each  week,  or  each 
fortnight,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  agree  with 
them  on  the  questions  they  shall  put  to  their 
several  sections  for  answer  in  writing,  to  in- 
quire into  the  progress  of  the  several  sections, 
and  to  make  the  work  of  the  instructors  ac- 
cordant as  regards  method  and  rate  of  pro- 
gress, and  just  as  regards  grades  or  marks.  In 
a  course  of  moderate  size  which  needs  only 
one  assistant,  greater  liberty  can  be  given  to 
the  one  helper  than  is  prudent  in  a  large 
course  divided  into  many  sections  with  sev- 
eral assistants.  In  the  latter  case  the  professor 
should  make  every  effort  to  procure  a  harmo- 
nious result  for  all  the  different  sections. 

The  work  done  by  assistants  in  large  uni- 
versity courses  is,  as  a  rule,  highly  profitable 
to  them,  particularly  if  they  are  proposing  to 
become  teachers  themselves.  They  are  brought 
into  intimate  association  with  an  expert  pro- 
fessor, who  has  a  strong  interest  in  guiding 
them  towards  an  effective  method  of  teaching 


186  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

for  their  own  use,  and  who  imparts  to  them  in 
the  process  the  best  results  of  his  own  expe- 
rience. As  a  matter  of  fact,  to  serve  as  an 
assistant  to  a  successful  professor  in  a  univer- 
sity course  is  the  best  thing  a  young  scholar 
can  do  towards  getting  a  good  position  for 
himself.  It  is  therefore  possible  to  procure 
competent  assistants  for  this  important  work 
who  will  serve  for  two  or  three  years;  but 
every  department  must  take  thought  for  a 
steady  supply  of  such  helpers.  The  function  is 
not  fit  for  capable  and  ambitious  men  beyond 
a  moderate  number  of  years.  If  it  were  made 
a  long-period  function,  the  right  sort  of  young 
scholar  would  not  accept  it. 

The  great  change  in  methods  of  university 
teaching  during  the  last  fifty  years  is  the  intro- 
duction of  laboratory  teaching  in  the  sciences, 
pure  and  applied.  So  long  as  these  subjects 
were  taught  by  means  of  books  and  lectures 
more  or  less  illustrated,  the  student  got  from 
them  a  training  similar  to  that  he  obtained 
from  the  study  of  languages,  history,  and  phi- 
losophy. They  trained  his  memory  for  facts 


LABORATORY  WORK  187 

and  his  powers  of  comparison,  discrimination, 
and  classification ;  but  when,  between  forty 
and  fifty  years  ago,  laboratory  work  for  the 
individual  student  was  introduced  on  a  large 
scale,  first  in  chemistry  and  physics,  then  in 
natural  history,  and  later  in  a  large  variety  of 
medical  subjects,  a  new  day  dawned  for  the 
teaching  of  all  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences, 
and  for  a  great  deal  of  professional  teaching. 
In  laboratory  work  the  individual  student  is 
obliged  to  use  actively  and  accurately  his  own 
eyes  and  hands,  to  record  correctly  the  results 
of  his  observations,  and  to  apprehend  the 
general  principle  or  law  which  determines  the 
sequences  of  the  phenomena  he  observes.  In 
any  given  experiment  he  may  be  dealing  with 
a  multiplicity  of  details;  but  he  must  take 
account  of  the  coordinating  or  classifying 
principle  which  runs  through  all  the  details. 
In  the  laboratory  he  is  himself  at  work  with 
body  and  mind,  and  he  is  at  work  by  himself, 
though  under  the  guidance  of  an  instructor, 
not  much  older  than  himself,  perhaps,  but 
more  experienced,  and  fully  capable  of  guid- 


188  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

ing  intelligently  the  work  of  the  comparative 
novice. 

In  well-conducted  laboratory  courses  of  in- 
struction, a  remarkable  combination  is  made 
of  all  available  methods  to  induce  the  student 
to  think  actively  and  apply  himself  vigorously. 
Such  courses  often  use  one  after  the  other  the 
short  illustrated  lecture,  note-taking  at  the 
lecture,  individual  work  at  a  laboratory  coun- 
ter, note-making  with  drawings  and  written 
descriptions  during  the  experiments,  problem- 
solving  on  matters  connected  with  the  experi- 
mentation, and  the  periodical  quiz  or  oral 
examination.  On  the  other  hand,  many  labora- 
tory courses  make  little  account  of  periodical 
examinations  in  writing;  because  the  daily 
testing  of  the  student's  acquaintance  with  the 
subject  is  so  prompt  and  efficient,  and  the 
results  of  the  work  he  does  in  the  laboratory 
indicate  so  clearly  his  attainments,  that  exam- 
inations in  writing  covering  the  work  of  two 
months  or  more  are  relatively  unimportant. 
The  lecture  as  a  part  of  a  course  of  instruction 
which  depends  chiefly  on  laboratory  work  may 


LECTURE  — MANUAL  — QUIZ  189 

be  either  long  or  short,  either  illustrated  or 
not  illustrated,  although  it  is  generally  illus- 
trated. Note-taking  at  the  lecture  may  be  either 
required  or  prohibited.  It  is  often  prohibited 
at  short  demonstrations  given  to  small  groups 
of  students  placed  close  about  the  demonstra- 
tor's table,  when  the  object  of  the  demon- 
stration is  to  show  what  the  students  are 
themselves  to  do  in  the  laboratory  during 
their  next  period  of  work. 

When  hour-long  lectures  intended  to  bring 
out  relationships,  principles,  or  laws,  make 
part  of  a  laboratory  course,  the  notes  taken  at 
the  lectures  are  ordinarily  supplemented  in  the 
laboratory  by  a  manual  which  describes  tools, 
processes,  and  methods  of  work  so  fully  that 
the  student  need  waste  no  time  and  run  no 
unnecessary  risks.  In  such  subjects  as  anat- 
omy, botany,  and  mineralogy,  considerable 
quantities  of  material  can  be  issued  to  each 
student  for  careful  examination  and  descrip- 
tion, and  at  the  end  of  two  or  three  hours  of 
such  study  a  short  quiz  or  oral  examination 
may  be  used  to  advantage  with  a  group  of 


190  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

students  who  have  been  examining  similar, 
but  not  the  same,  material.  The  making  of 
notes  of  experiments  during  the  actual  experi- 
menting is  an  invaluable  exercise  in  accuracy 
and  order,  and  in  adequacy  of  description.  In 
some  courses  the  notes  of  each  student  at 
each  exercise  are  made  upon  uniform  sheets 
of  paper  arranged  for  subsequent  binding, 
and  these  sheets  are  not  allowed  to  be  taken 
out  of  the  laboratory.  In  a  natural  history 
subject,  each  sheet  will  ordinarily  contain  a 
drawing  or  drawings,  and  written  descrip- 
tions, presumably  drawings  and  descriptions 
of  what  the  student  has  seen  through  his  mi- 
croscope. These  sheets,  dated  and  signed,  are 
preserved  in  the  laboratory  for  each  student 
to  the  end  of  the  course,  and  may  then  be 
bound  as  a  record  of  the  student's  work  within 
the  laboratory.  In  other  courses  the  notes  are 
kept  in  plain  note-books  which  may  be  taken 
out  of  the  laboratory  for  inserting  computa- 
tions which  the  experimenter  cannot  stop  to 
make  while  in  the  laboratory,  or  for  writing 
out  the  conclusions,  or  inferences,  which  the 


UNREASONING  LABORATORY  WORK      191 

data  experimentally  obtained  warrant.  The 
laboratory  notes,  however  made,  are  always 
open  to  the  inspection  of  the  assistant  in  the 
course,  and  supply  one  means  of  estimating 
the  value  of  the  students'  work. 

There  is  a  danger  to  be  guarded  against 
in  all  laboratory  instruction  which  has  been 
highly  systematized,  the  danger  that  the  stu- 
dent may  follow  processes  described  in  a  good 
manual  without  ever  reflecting  on  the  reasons 
for  the  processes.  The  student's  own  work  is 
then  reduced  to  a  mechanical  following  of 
directions.  His  inquiry  constantly  is,  am  I 
getting  the  reactions  or  phenomena  which 
the  manual  says  I  ought  to  get?  A  student 
who  works  in  this  way  will  be  entirely  helpless 
without  his  manual,  and  will  lose  the  training 
in  reasoning  which  his  course  ought  to  supply. 
Laboratory  assistants  need  to  be  constantly  on 
their  guard  against  this  mechanical,  unreflect- 
ing way  of  working  on  the  part  of  students  they 
direct.  It  is  often  necessary  to  tell  beginners 
what  they  ought  to  see,  or  might  see,  under 
the  existing  conditions ;  but  it  is  never  safe  to 


192  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

allow  the  student  to  rest  satisfied  with  verify- 
ing the  assistant's  or  the  book's  statement. 
The  student  who  goes  through  a  well-devised 
laboratory  course  can  hardly  fail  to  gain  some 
advantage  from  the  obligatory  accuracy  in 
seeing,  touching,  measuring,  weighing,  draw- 
ing, and  describing;  but  it  is  quite  possi- 
ble that  a  student  whose  experimental  results 
are  satisfactory  should  nevertheless  miss  alto- 
gether the  training  in  scientific  reasoning 
which  the  subject  is  fitted  to  impart.  To  pre- 
vent such  shortcomings,  the  assistant  should 
always  be  on  the  alert,  and  the  professor  re- 
sponsible for  the  course  should  exercise  an 
active  supervision  over  the  instruction  which 
his  assistants  give  at  the  laboratory  tables. 

In  many  laboratory  courses  it  is  advisable 
to  supplement  the  lectures  of  the  professor 
from  time  to  time  by  short  lectures  given  to 
sections  of  the  class  by  the  assistant  or  assist- 
ants. Part  of  the  hour,  occasionally  devoted 
to  this  supplementary  lecture  on  difficulties  or 
details,  may  be  advantageously  devoted  to 
answering  in  writing  a  question  set  before  the 


PROBLEM  WORK  193 

whole  section.  These  short  written  quizzes  can 
be  best  directed  to  ascertaining  whether  the 
reasoning  of  the  subject  has  been  apprehended 
by  the  class.  Precautions  against  superficial 
or  mechanical  work  are  most  valuable  in  the 
comparatively  elementary  courses  resorted  to 
by  large  numbers  of  students.  In  the  advanced 
courses  where  the  numbers  are  small,  and  most 
of  the  members  of  any  class  are  persons 
bent  on  the  serious  pursuit  of  the  subject  they 
have  chosen,  these  methods  of  control  are 
hardly  needed,  or  at  least  may  be  used  much 
less  frequently. 

Problem  work  is  an  important  aid  in  many 
laboratory  courses.  Typewritten  or  printed 
problems  in  considerable  variety  are  given  out 
to  a  whole  class  for  immediate  solution  in  the 
room  where  they  are  issued,  the  problems  being 
of  course  closely  connected  with  the  work 
done  in  the  course  during  the  preceding  three 
or  four  weeks.  The  written  work  thus  ob- 
tained will  enable  the  professor  and  his  assist- 
ants to  judge  whether  the  instruction  given 
to  the  class  has  been  understood  and  assimi- 


194  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

lated  in  fair  measure ;  and  at  the  same  time  it 
will  give  good  students  a  certain  confidence 
in  their  own  attainments,  and  reveal  to  incom- 
petent students  the  nature,  and  perhaps  the 
cause,  of  their  deficiencies.  In  every  well- 
conducted  laboratory  course,  however,  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  students'  time  and  strength 
should  be  devoted  to  the  laboratory  work,  in- 
cluding the  making  of  full  descriptive  notes. 
Lectures,  quizzes  oral  or  written,  problem 
working,  and  the  study  of  the  manual  should 
all  take  a  secondary  place.  The  main  object 
in  view  should  always  be  the  training  of  the 
students'  senses,  imagination,  and  reasoning 
power  in  actual  experimentation. 

The  principles  of  laboratory  instruction  are 
available  in  many  other  university  departments 
besides  those  ordinarily  called  scientific.  Thus 
in  the  study  of  the  fine  arts,  drawing  and  the 
careful  study  of  objects  or  specimens  should 
have  a  great  part.  In  the  study  of  architecture 
and  landscape  architecture,  the  draughting- 
room  plays  the  part  of  the  laboratory  in  chem- 
istry or  physics.  In  engineering,  mining,  and 


DRAWING  — DRAUGHTING  — FIELD-WORK    195 

forestry,  the  student  obtains  in  his  field-work 
much  of  the  same  sort  of  training  which  the 
student  of  botany,  zoology,  histology,  or  bac- 
teriology gets  in  his  laboratory.  This  is  the 
reason  that  all  universities  are  giving  so  much 
more  attention  than  they  formerly  did  to  field 
studies  for  engineers  in  surveying,  geodesy, 
and  geography,  to  actual  work  in  mines  and 
metallurgical  establishments  for  men  who  pro- 
pose to  be  mining  engineers,  and  to  work  in 
woods  and  lumber  camps  for  men  who  propose 
to  be  foresters.  This  is  the  reason  that  uni- 
versities are  providing  and  carrying  on  summer 
camps  for  the  actual  conducting  by  students 
of  the  out-of-door  processes  of  these  various 
industries.  Young  men  cannot  be  initiated  into 
these  professions  by  the  use  of  books,  models, 
drawings,  photographs,  and  lantern-slides 
alone.  They  must  have  the  training  of  actual 
labor  in  the  real  laboratories  of  these  indus- 
trial processes.  To  reading  they  must  add 
doing  in  their  own  persons.  The  student  of 
these  subjects  must  combine  study  of  theory 
with  practice;  and  he  must  be  personally 


196  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

familiar  with  the  best  applications  of  the 
soundest  theories.  It  is  this  combination  of 
theoretical  and  historical  knowledge  with 
practical  skill  which  in  these  days  makes  the 
successful  investigator,  professional  man,  or 
business  man.  In  his  training  neither  the  the- 
oretical part  nor  the  practical  part  can  be 
safely  omitted. 

A  method  of  instruction  has  come  into  use 
in  many  university  departments  which  was 
imported  from  Germany,  or  adapted  from  the 
work  done  there  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Philosophy,  namely,  the  thesis,  or  long  written 
paper  on  a  subject  assigned  by  the  professor, 
or  selected  by  the  student  in  consultation  with 
the  professor.  The  thesis  in  its  original  sense 
is  used  here  without  much  change  as  one  of 
the  qualifying  tests  for  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Philosophy,  except  that  in  American  prac- 
tice the  thesis  tends  to  surpass  in  length  and 
elaborateness  the  German  original ;  but  as  an 
element  in  undergraduate  work  the  thesis  has 
been  shortened  and  has  lost  its  character  of 
an  original  contribution  to  learning.  It  has 


THESES  —  REPORTS  —  BRIEFS  197 

become  rather  a  report  on  some  limited  sub- 
ject which  the  student  can  be  supposed  to 
make  by  a  process  of  summarizing  and  digest- 
ing his  reading  on  a  given  theme.  It  is  now 
often  used  as  a  means  of  ascertaining  that  the 
student  has  really  read  the  books  prescribed 
to  him.  When  thus  used,  the  best  way  of  ob- 
taining a  satisfactory  thesis  is  to  require  the 
student  to  present  to  the  professor  or  his  as- 
sistant several  weeks  before  the  thesis  is  due, 
and  after  he  has  accomplished  the  reading 
prescribed,  a  brief  of  his  proposed  thesis  in 
duplicate.  The  professor  or  his  assistant  should 
go  over  this  brief  with  the  student,  listening 
to  the  student's  explanation  of  the  manner  in 
which  he  proposes  to  fill  out  the  brief.  One 
copy  of  the  brief  should  then  be  left  with  the 
professor  or  assistant  in  charge.  The  thesis 
should  then  be  handed  in  punctually  on  the 
day  appointed,  and  should  never  be  accepted 
at  all  on  any  later  day.  The  evils  of  postponed 
written  work  are  very  great,  so  that  the  pre- 
sentation of  written  work  at  the  appointed 
time  should  be  rigidly  enforced.  Care  should 


198  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

also  be  taken  that  the  theses  demanded  of 
the  same  student  by  different  departments 
be  properly  distributed  throughout  the  year ; 
so  that  there  may  be  no  unreasonable  de- 
mand for  written  work  in  any  one  part  of  the 
year.  Thesis  work  can  be  made  analogous  to 
problem  work  in  some  departments,  —  as,  for 
instance,  in  physics,  by  converting  the  thesis 
into  a  report  on  some  critical  investigation  or 
famous  experiment,  or  in  economics  by  con- 
verting the  thesis  into  a  report  upon  some 
special  industrial  or  financial  problem  which 
has  been  solved  in  practice,  or  is  in  process  of 
solution. 

All  this  written  work  gives  the  student 
who  does  it  thoroughly,  excellent  practice  in 
accumulating  and  sorting  materials  for  dis- 
cussion, summarizing  arguments,  and  describ- 
ing clearly  complicated  proceedings  j  and  in- 
asmuch as  facility  in  such  work  is  often  highly 
useful  to  its  possessor  in  after-life,  much  is  to 
be  said  in  defense  or  advocacy  of  the  thesis. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  thesis  often  raises 
grave  questions  in  the  minds  of  both  student 


THE  CASE  METHOD  199 

and  instructor  as  to  the  degree  of  independ- 
ent labor  which  it  represents,  or  rather  as  to 
the  amount  of  copied  and  quoted  matter  which 
it  may  properly  contain.  The  same  difficulties, 
however,  occur  in  after-life  whenever  a  writer 
tries  to  give  a  new  account  of  transactions  or 
processes  not  of  his  discovery  or  invention, 
the  materials  for  his  description  being  already 
in  print. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  methods  of  uni- 
versity instruction  which  has  been  developed 
within  the  last  thirty-five  years  is  the  so-called 
case  method  of  teaching  law,  a  method  in- 
vented about  1871  by  the  late  Professor  C.  C. 
Langdell  of  the  Harvard  Law  School,  and 
developed  by  himself  and  his  colleagues  in 
that  School  in  the  course  of  about  fifteen 
years.  Professor  Langdell's  fundamental  idea 
was  that  the  law  should  be  taught,  not  from 
treatises  or  from  lectures  which  would  prob- 
ably be  either  imperfect  treatises  or  commen- 
taries on  treatises,  but  at  first  hand  from  the 
records  of  actual  cases  in  which  important 
principles  or  practices  had  been  laid  down 


200  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

and  established  by  judicial  tribunals.  He 
began  by  teaching  the  subject  of  contracts 
through  a  selection  of  leading  cases,  to  which 
he  referred  his  students  as  the  raw  material 
of  their  studies.  When  his  students  had  read 
the  cases  on  a  given  topic,  to  which  he  had 
referred  them,  he  discussed  with  them  the 
facts  of  each  case,  and  the  principle  or  doc- 
trine established  therein.  The  students  were 
expected  to  state  from  memory  the  facts  of 
the  case,  and  to  give  a  summary  of  the  argu- 
ments, and  of  the  decision  of  the  judge.  Pro- 
fessor Langdell  took  part  in  and  guided  the 
discussion  by  both  questions  and  answers  of 
his  own;  but  the  class  did  the  larger  part  of 
the  work  during  the  lecture  hour.  It  soon 
appeared  that  it  was  highly  inconvenient  for 
the  many  students  to  get  timely  access  to  the 
few  copies  of  the  reports  to  which  Professor 
Langdell  referred  them,  and  he  therefore  un- 
dertook the  preparation  of  a  collection  of 
select  cases  on  contracts.  This  selection  was 
followed  in  a  few  years  by  a  series  of  volumes 
of  select  cases  on  the  subjects  of  instruction 


BOOKS  OF  SELECTED  CASES  201 

in  the  Harvard  Law  School,  almost  all  of 
which  were  prepared  by  Professor  Langdell's 
colleagues ;  and  his  method  was  gradually 
adopted  by  most  of  the  teachers  in  the  School. 
The  possession  of  these  volumes  of  cases  makes 
it  unnecessary  for  the  student  to  resort  inces- 
santly to  the  volumes  of  reports  on  the  library 
shelves,  unless  the  professors  revise  their  se- 
lections of  cases,  or  wish  to  add  cases  of  a 
date  later  than  that  of  the  volumes  in  use. 
With  this  method  there  is  no  lecturing  in  the 
ordinary  sense ;  there  is  active  discussion  on 
the  statement  of  the  cases  as  made  by  the 
students,  a  discussion  in  which  the  professor 
and  many  students  take  part.  The  better  stu- 
dents like  to  be  called  upon  to  state  the  main 
features  of  a  case,  and  like  to  discuss  them 
when  stated.  Not  all  the  students  of  a  given 
class  take  part ;  but  the  Socratic  process  is 
more  interesting  to  a  mere  listener  than  a 
lecture,  and  more  impressive.  The  method 
requires  an  unusual  degree  of  alertness  and 
vivacity  on  the  part  of  the  professor  in  put- 
ting questions  and  keeping  the  discussion  to 


202  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

the  point,  and  skill  on  his  part  in  making  a 
quick  and  concise  resume  of  the  discussion 
for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  class.  It  is,  on 
the  whole,  a  more  fatiguing  operation  for  the 
professor  than  that  of  lecturing ;  because  he 
is  obliged  to  give  the  keenest  attention  to  all 
the  inquiries  and  suggestions  of  the  eager 
students  before  him.  He  must  also  see  that 
the  time  is  divided  proportionately  among  the 
different  topics  which  he  intends  to  have 
covered  during  the  hour. 

The  method  was  much  derided  at  the  start 
by  lawyers  who  had  been  brought  up  on 
treatises  and  commentaries  on  treatises;  but 
it  soon  justified  itself  in  a  conclusive  way. 
After  a  few  years  it  was  demonstrated  that 
young  men  who  had  been  thus  trained  to  the 
practice  of  the  law  could  make  themselves 
more  useful  to  their  seniors  in  the  offices  they 
entered  than  fresh  law  graduates  had  ever 
been  before,  and  than  young  men  contempo- 
raneously trained  in  other  methods.  There 
followed  a  rapid  growth  of  the  Harvard  Law 
School  which  has  continued  to  this  day,  in 


SPREAD  OF  THE  CASE  METHOD          203 

spite  of  numerous  restrictive  measures  which 
demanded  better  "preparation  for  admission, 
more  years  of  residence,  and  finally  a  prelimi- 
nary degree  in  arts  or  science  as  a  condition 
of  entrance  to  the  School. 

The  method  has  now  spread  to  many  other 
law  schools,  and  to  other  departments  of 
American  universities  —  to  the  latter  with 
interesting  modifications.  It  is  directly  appli- 
cable to  the  study  of  constitutional  law,  and 
in  large  measure  to  the  study  of  diplomacy, 
because  collections  of  original  documents  can 
be  made  for  the  study  of  these  subjects  which 
are  analogous  to  the  case-books  used  in  the 
study  of  legal  subjects.  In  economics  also 
the  method  is  applicable,  with  only  slight 
modifications.  Thus,  the  century-long  warfare 
between  capital  and  labor  can  be  profitably 
studied  from  a  collection  of  reports  on  the 
most  important  lockouts  and  strikes  of  the 
period,  condensed  and  summarized  if  need  be. 
The  successive  gains  made  by  the  trade 
unions,  the  good  and  evil  they  have  done, 
the  defences  set  up  by  capital,  and  the  inven- 


204  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

tions  made  by  capital  to  meet  the  new  condi- 
tions of  the  labor  market,  can  all  be  brought 
home  to  the  student  vividly  and  impressively 
through  the  reports  of  the  actual  conflicts, 
without  the  use  of  any  treatise,  or  history,  or 
of  any  theoretical  statement  of  doctrine  on 
the  subject. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  applications  of 
the  case  method  in  other  departments  occurs 
in  clinical  medicine,  a  department  where  the 
ordinary  method  has  been  to  show  the  stu- 
dents, gathered  about  the  patient,  how  the 
history  of  the  case  has  been  obtained  by  the 
physician  and  the  nurse,  how  the  symptoms 
have  been  studied  and  recorded,  and  how  the 
just  diagnosis,  treatment,  and  prognosis  are 
to  be  arrived  at.  This  lesson  is  given  on  or 
near  the  patient  in  a  hospital,  dispensary,  or 
out-patient  department.  To  supplement  this 
instruction  given  over  sick  or  injured  per- 
sons, a  case-book  has  been  contrived  in  which 
a  large  number  of  cases  are  described,  with 
all  the  records  used  by  the  physician  making 
a  hospital  visit,  and  with  the  results  of  thor- 


SOURCE-BOOKS  205 

ough  examination  of  the  patient.  From  this 
printed  report  of  the  case,  the  student  is  ex- 
pected to  make  his  own  diagnosis,  to  prescribe 
the  proper  treatment,  and  to  make  the  prog- 
nosis. It  is  evident  that  this  method  can  be 
profitably  used  with  regard  to  a  great  variety 
of  diseases  and  injuries;  so  that  the  stu- 
dent shall  find  in  such  a  case-book  means  of 
reviewing  his  knowledge,  and  of  testing  his 
capacity  to  deal  with  actual  cases.  This  is  a 
combination  of  the  case-book  in  the  law  with 
a  book  of  problems  in  geometry,  or  physics, 
or  economic  geology. 

Useful  modifications  of  the  case-book  are 
the  source-books  which  are  now  found  useful 
in  university  departments  of  history,  philoso- 
phy, and  public  finance.  These  books  are  of 
course  various  in  character  according  to  their 
subjects ;  but  the  fundamental  idea  is  that  of 
Professor  Langdell's  book  of  cases.  They  are 
intended  to  put  at  the  disposition  of  the  stu- 
dent documents  which  have  proved  to  be  of 
fundamental  importance,  summaries  of  life- 
careers  which  were  extraordinarily  influential, 


206  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

or  extracts  from  great  authors  which  contain 
the  substance  of  their  teachings,  or  the  seeds 
of  later  growths.  Books  of  this  nature  can  be 
profitably  used  either  to  supplement  lectures, 
that  is,  as  parts  of  prescribed  reading,  or  to 
supply  the  themes  of  oral  discussions  which 
replace  lectures. 

Finally,  university  examinations  have  been 
greatly  improved  and  systematized  within  the 
last  fifty  years,  and  have  become  a  highly  pro- 
fitable part  of  university  discipline.  American 
experience  on  this  subject  is  brief  compared 
with  English.  The  first  written  examinations 
ever  held  in  Harvard  University  were  intro- 
duced there  in  the  year  1857  by  two  young 
tutors  in  mathematics.  The  written  examina- 
tion has  since  been  studied  from  every  possible 
point  of  view,  and  adopted  in  all  departments 
of  university  work.  They  are  much  more  than 
means  of  grading  students  and  compelling 
the  indifferent  or  careless  student  to  do  some 
work;  they  constitute  a  valuable  means  of 
training,  inasmuch  as  they  prepare  young 
men  to  meet  the  similar  crises  which  they 


EXAMINATIONS  207 

constantly  encounter  in  after-life,  particularly 
in  the  professions,  —  both  learned  and  scien- 
tific,—  in  the  public  service,  and  in  business 
administration. 

The  professional  man  is  constantly  brought 
to  tests  much  severer  than  any  university 
examination  can  ever  be.  The  lawyer  must 
prepare  himself,  often  under  great  difficul- 
ties, to  plead  his  case  on  a  given  day.  The 
physician  may  find  himself  called  at  any  mo- 
ment to  a  sick  or  injured  person,  whose  real 
condition  he  must  discover  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, and  must  treat  forthwith.  He  must  also 
decide  what  to  say  to  the  patient,  and  to  the 
patient's  friends  and  relatives.  He  needs  to 
have  at  his  fingers'  ends  all  the  knowledge 
and  skill  applicable  to  the  case  in  hand,  and 
he  needs  it  on  a  sudden.  The  architect  finds 
it  to  his  interest  to  present  within  a  few  weeks 
a  design  for  a  kind  of  structure  which  is  not 
familiar  to  him,  or  which  must  be  adapted  to 
new  conditions  of  construction  and  use.  He 
must  quickly  summon  all  his  forces,  and  work 
at  high  speed  to  produce  within  a  few  weeks 


208  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

an  attractive  competitive  design.  In  all  intel- 
lectual callings  there  are  periods  of  intense 
labor  to  prepare  for  a  crisis.  For  all  such 
•work  the  university  examinations  provide  ap- 
propriate and  invaluable  training.  On  this 
account  the  disappearance  of  promotion  and 
graduation  examinations  from  many  schools 
—  both  elementary  and  secondary  —  is  greatly 
to  be  deplored;  the  more  so  because  college 
and  university  examinations  are  sure  to  be 
lowered  in  standard  when  the  students  who 
enter  the  colleges  and  universities  have  had 
no  experience  in  examinations  prior  to  be- 
coming members  of  their  college  or  university 
on  certificates  from  the  secondary  schools. 
A  generation  is  growing  up  in  many  parts  of 
the  country  which  has  successfully  avoided 
examinations,  having  acquired  the  belief  that 
examinations  are  an  evil,  instead  of  a  profit- 
able means  of  sound  training. 

A  peculiar  form  of  examination  which  has 
been  developed  in  some  university  departments 
deserves  mention.  When  an  examination  is  to 
be  held  on  a  half-year's  course  in  the  differen- 


LONG  QUESTION-PAPERS  209 

tial  calculus,  for  example,  instead  of  preparing 
a  question-paper  containing  eight  or  ten  ques- 
tions, the  instructor  responsible  for  the  course 
prepares  a  set  of  forty  or  fifty  questions  which 
really  cover  the  field  of  instruction  in  that 
course,  so  that  any  one  who  could  answer  all 
the  questions  would  demonstrate  that  he  had 
possessed  himself  of  the  substance  of  the  in- 
struction given  during  the  half-year.  This  long 
paper  is  given  to  the  students  three  or  four 
weeks  before  the  date  of  the  examination.  On 
the  examination  day  the  class  is  told  to  answer 
six  or  eight  of  the  questions  on  the  list.  This 
method  is  analogous  to  the  use  of  a  full  syl- 
labus to  define  to  a  class  at  the  beginning  the 
professor's  conception  of  the  subjects  he  shall 
cover  during  the  entire  course  which  they 
are  entering  on.  In  any  university  there  will 
be  some  departments  in  which  this  mode  of 
examination  can  be  occasionally  adopted  to 
advantage. 

The  highest  instruction  given  in  the  Ameri- 
can universities  is  given  in  those  intimate 
meetings  of  small  groups  of  advanced  students 


210  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

with  their  teachers,  which  are  variously  called 
seminaries,  conferences,  or  research  courses. 
The  manner  of  conducting  these  meetings 
varies  considerably  in  different  departments. 
In  the  mathematical,  scientific,  historical,  and 
philosophical  departments  the  main  object  is 
often  to  give  students  opportunities  of  making 
acquaintance  at  first  hand  with  original  au- 
thorities, and  to  teach  them  by  great  examples 
the  methods  of  research.  The  work  is  then 
apt  to  consist  of  reading  typical  texts  and 
documents,  and  the  records  of  epoch-making 
experiments  or  inquiries,  of  short  studies  on 
special  topics  of  ancient  or  modern  inquiry, 
and  of  comments,  discussions,  and  criticisms 
by  the  members  of  the  class.  One  field  of 
study  may  be  chosen  by  the  teacher  for  the 
whole  group,  or  a  special  topic  may  be  assigned 
to  each  individual  student.  While  the  main 
purpose  of  such  work  is  to  gain  familiarity 
with  the  processes  of  investigation  and  with 
the  weighing  of  evidence,  the  incidental  know- 
ledge acquired  is  an  important  part  of  the 
total  result.  In  seminaries  or  conferences  on 


SEMINARIES  —  CONFERENCES  211 

natural  history  subjects,  the  critical  exami- 
nation of  specimens  may  find  a  place,  and 
particularly  the  study  of  materials  which  the 
students  have  collected  in  the  field.  In  eco- 
nomics the  instructors  undertake  the  guidance 
of  students  in  independent  investigations  of 
financial,  industrial,  and  transportation  prob- 
lems ;  and  the  seminary  gives  opportunity  for 
the  presentation  and  discussion  of  the  results 
of  the  students'  researches.  In  languages  and 
literature  the  seminary  courses  generally  have 
two  purposes  in  view.  First,  to  make  a  thor- 
ough study  of  selected  works  with  special  ref- 
erence to  text  criticism,  etymology,  and  the 
history  of  grammatical  forms.  Secondly,  to 
acquaint  the  student  with  the  methods  of  lin- 
guistic and  literary  research  by  means  of  lim- 
ited original  investigations  carried  on  by  him 
under  the  supervision  of  the  teacher. 

The  members  of  any  seminary  may  follow 
special  lines  of  inquiry,  pursue  their  own  work, 
and  confer  individually  at  stated  times  with 
the  instructors  under  whose  guidance  they  are 
conducting  their  researches ;  but  the  seminary 


212  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

or  conference  also  gives  opportunity  to  the 
instructor  to  present  results  of  his  own  work 
to  the  advanced  students  in  his  subject.  A 
teacher  who  is  developing  a  given  subject  for 
his  own  purposes  may  often  get  valuable  aid 
from  his  seminary  students,  partly  in  collect- 
ing materials,  partly  in  verifying  facts  or  cita- 
tions, and  partly  through  student  discussion 
and  criticism  of  his  own  processes  and  state- 
ments. 

In  some  departments,  meetings,  called  con- 
ferences, of  all  the  instructors  and  advanced 
students  are  held  statedly  to  promote  inde- 
pendent research  and  close  intercourse  be- 
tween instructors  and  students,  and  to  hear 
and  discuss  papers  prepared  by  the  student 
members.  This  conference  method  of  instruc- 
tion has  been  usually  developed  in  the  gradu- 
ate schools  of  arts  and  sciences ;  but  it  is  now 
used  in  various  university  departments,  under- 
graduate as  well  as  graduate.  It  is  the  climax 
of  university  teaching. 

One  excellent  result  of  the  changes  in  uni- 
versity teaching  during  the  past  fifty  years  is 


CONTACT  OF  TEACHER  AND  STUDENT  213 

that  the  amount  of  direct  intercourse  between 
teacher  and  student  has  greatly  increased,  so 
that  the  personal  influence  of  teacher  on  stu- 
dent has  been  much  enhanced. 


VI 


SOCIAL   ORGANIZATION  — THE   PRESI- 
DENT—GENERAL ADMINISTRATION 

THE  American  colleges  and  universities,  with 
a  few  exceptions  in  peculiar  communities,  con- 
tain representatives  of  all  grades  of  American 
society,  namely,  some  small  number  of  rich 
men's  sons,  a  much  larger  number  of  young 
men  whose  families  can  help  but  little,  or  not 
at  all,  towards  their  education,  and  a  strong 
majority  of  students  whose  families  are  neither 
rich  nor  poor.  In  any  college  or  university 
the  rich  class  will  be  represented  to  a  higher 
percentage  than  in  society  at  large;  because 
most  men  who  succeed  greatly  in  business,  or  in 
the  professions,  endeavor  to  get  their  sons  into 
college,  knowing  that  the  only  way  to  maintain 
through  several  generations  a  good  family 
position  once  won  is  through  superior  educa- 
tion. In  the  large  proportion  of  poor  young 
men  in  any  college  there  will  be  a  consid- 


THE  COLLEGE  A  SOCIAL  MIXTURE      215 

erable  number  of  youths  who  have  distanced 
the  mass  of  their  contemporaries  and  associ- 
ates because  of  some  unusual  mental  gift,  or 
of  some  bodily  excellence  which  has  enabled 
them  to  bear  an  unusual  amouDt  of  work,  as, 
for  example,  the  work  of  earning  their  living 
while  pursuing  strenuous  studies.  There  will 
naturally  be  a  larger  percentage  of  idlers 
among  the  rich  students  than  in  either  of  the 
other  groups,  because  the  rich  lack  the  motive 
of  impending  need;  but  nevertheless,  many 
of  the  richer  students  will  be  found  in  the 
upper  quarter  of  their  respective  classes.  In 
Harvard  College,  for  example,  there  are  both 
honorary  and  stipend  scholarships,  an  honor- 
ary scholarship  being  conferred  on  every  stu- 
dent, having  no  need  of  pecuniary  aid,  who 
stands  as  high  as,  or  higher  than,  the  lowest 
scholar  in  his  class  who  receives  a  stipend 
scholarship.  Now,  in  almost  all  the  classes  in 
Harvard  College  there  are  as  many  honorary 
scholarship-holders  as  there  are  stipend  schol- 
arship-holders; indeed,  there  are  often  more 
honorary  than  stipend  scholarship-holders.  The 


216  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION 

poor  students  are  as  a  rule  steady  workers. 
They  bring  that  quality  with  them  to  college ; 
for  without  it  they  could  not  have  reached  the 
college.  In  the  great  majority  of  students  who 
are  neither  rich  nor  poor,  every  variety  of  dis- 
position and  capacity  appears ;  and  it  is  they 
who  in  the  long  run  determine  the  social 
quality  of  a  college,  for  their  manners  and  cus- 
toms and  their  common  sentiments  naturally 
prevail,  although  modified  somewhat  by  the 
manners  and  sentiments  of  the  richer  students 
on  the  one  hand  and  of  the  poorer  on  the 
other. 

When  a  college  or  university  is  started  early 
in  a  new  or  pioneer  community,  its  students 
may  for  a  time  reproduce  the  homogeneous- 
ness  of  the  surrounding  community  as  regards 
occupation,  education,  and  habitual  family 
life;  but  even  a  single  generation  may  suffice 
to  introduce  into  that  college  the  heteroge- 
neousness  above  described. 

It  is  of  course  highly  desirable  that  stu- 
dents of  all  sorts  mix  together  freely,  and 
come  to  understand  each  other  during  the 


DORMITORIES  217 

period  of  college  life.  What  are  the  means  of 
promoting  this  desirable  mixing?  In  the  first 
place,  college  halls  of  chambers,  in  which  stu- 
dents can  live  in  large  bodies  under  healthy 
conditions  and  in  close  association.  It  is  more 
desirable  that  each  dormitory  contain  rooms 
of  different  sorts  at  different  prices,  than  that 
one  dormitory  should  have  rooms  at  high 
rents,  and  another  rooms  at  low  rents;  and 
it  is  also  much  more  desirable  that  each  dor- 
mitory should  contain  students  of  different 
ages  than  that  Seniors  should  be  massed  in 
one  dormitory,  and  Freshmen  in  another.  The 
managers  of  dormitories  should  always  seek 
to  promote  the  association  of  students  of  dif- 
ferent college  standing,  and  of  different  scales 
of  expenditure.  A  good  invention  in  college 
halls  of  chambers  is  the  common-room,  a  large 
apartment  or  suite  of  rooms  on  the  lower  floor, 
pleasantly  furnished  as  a  common  meeting- 
place  for  the  occupants  of  the  hall. 

Under  a  general  regime  of  liberty  for  the 
student,  it  will  ordinarily  be  found  impossible 
to  prevent  groupings  of  students  according  to 


218  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION 

their  scales  of  expenditure ;  but  this  tendency 
should  be  resisted,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to 
do  so,  by  the  renting  arrangements  of  col- 
lege dormitories.  It  is  of  course  impossible  to 
prevent  private  investors  offering  students 
desirable  suites  of  rooms  at  high  prices,  and 
thereby  segregating  the  richer ;  although  such 
buildings  may  always  be  kept  under  the  su- 
pervision of  college  officers  resident  therein, 
and  in  the  last  resort  may  be  made  bad  in- 
vestments by  means  of  restrictive  college  reg- 
ulations. 

It  used  to  be  thought  among  the  governors 
of  some  of  the  newer  American  universities 
that  students'  halls  of  chambers  were  natural 
centres  of  disorder  and  turbulence,  and  there- 
fore were  undesirable  possessions;  but  this 
view  has  now  been  generally  abandoned,  partly 
because  some  colleges  with  dormitories  have 
proved  to  be  habitually  quieter  and  more  or- 
derly than  some  colleges  without  dormitories, 
and  partly  because  experience  has  shown  that 
well-managed  dormitories  make  college  life 
more  enjoyable  and  more  profitable.  Moreover, 


DINING-HALLS  219 

it  has  now  been  generally  recognized  that 
wherever  women  go  to  college,  well-constructed 
halls  of  chambers  are  well-nigh  indispensable 
for  them. 

Another  means  of  promoting  the  desirable 
association  of  students  whose  families  live  on 
different  scales  is  the  provision  of  large  din- 
ing-halls  which  can  be  carried  on  in  a  coop- 
erative fashion  by  associations  of  students. 
In  this  way  a  thousand  or  more  students  can 
habitually  eat  together,  at  a  moderate  general 
charge,  each  individual  having  the  liberty  of 
adding  to  the  common  diet  special  articles 
which  he  orders  and  pays  for  individually. 
In  such  halls  some  tables  may  be  set  apart 
for  groups  of  acquaintances,  while  others  are 
used  as  in  a  restaurant.  Both  dormitories  and 
dining-halls,  if  well  managed,  will  keep  down 
the  average  price  of  board  and  lodging  in  the 
town  where  the  college  or  university  is  situ- 
ated, and  thereby  tend  to  promote  the  growth 
of  the  college,  and  to  maintain  its  democratic 
quality. 

The  mixing  of  all  sorts  of  students  may 


220  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION 

further  be  promoted  by  providing  large  club- 
houses for  the  use  of  the  whole  body  of  stu- 
dents. A  club  which  contains  no  more  than 
five  hundred  members  is  highly  useful  in  this 
respect ;  but  a  club  like  the  Harvard  Union, 
which  contains  fifteen  hundred  active  mem- 
bers, is  of  course  much  better;  indeed,  such 
a  club  is  a  very  efficient  means  of  promoting 
an  advantageous  breadth  and  variety  of  ac- 
quaintance among  students.  Inasmuch  as  such 
a  club  must  inevitably  have  a  low  annual  fee, 
it  cannot  be  supported  without  endowment, 
such  as  the  gift  of  its  building,  or  the  pro- 
vision of  a  fund  the  income  of  which  helps  to 
pay  the  running  expenses. 

In  any  old  and  large  university  there  will 
be  found  numerous  associations  of  students 
whose  membership  is  determined  by  some  com- 
mon taste  or  capacity,  such,  for  instance,  as 
musical  associations,  dramatic  clubs,  and  so- 
cieties which  meet  statedly  to  discuss  a  sub- 
ject of  common  interest,  —  like  the  natural 
history  societies,  and  the  clubs  containing  the 
students  who  are  interested  in  philosophy, 


FRATERNITIES  221 

economics,  history,  government,  law,  or  medi- 
cine. These  groups  are  made  up  without  the 
slightest  reference  to  the  social  standing  or 
mode  of  life  of  their  members,  membership 
being  conditioned  solely  on  capacity  and  de- 
sire to  contribute  to  the  object  of  the  associa- 
tion. These  associations  often  establish  among 
their  members  lifelong  intimacies  based  on 
intellectual  affinities. 

The  absence,  or  inadequate  supply,  of  dor- 
mitories in  some  American  colleges  and  uni- 
versities has  given  opportunity  for  the  intro- 
duction and  successful  development  of  the 
fraternity  system.  The  fraternities,  with  their 
large  and  comfortable  houses,  and  their  inter- 
esting secrecies,  good  libraries,  and  pleasant 
relations  with  graduate  members,  organize  a 
part  of  the  students  of  a  college  or  university 
into  a  number  of  fixed  groups,  the  new  mem- 
bers of  each  group  being  ordinarily  selected 
within  a  few  weeks  of  the  advent  of  a  Fresh- 
man class,  if,  indeed,  not  earlier  pledged.  In 
a  small  college  the  fraternities  may  each  year 
divide  among  themselves  almost  the  entire 


222  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION 

body  of  newcomers,  leaving  but  a  small  rem- 
nant invited  into  no  fraternity,  who  are 
usually  regarded  as  unfortunates.  The  fra- 
ternity groups  thus  hastily  formed  persist 
throughout  the  whole  college  course,  and,  in- 
deed, last  in  some  measure  throughout  life ; 
so  that  when  a  graduate  returns  at  Commence- 
ment time,  he  revisits  his  fraternity  quite  as 
much  as  his  college. 

In  large  universities,  where  fraternity  influ- 
ence is  comparatively  feeble,  other  means  have 
been  found  of  gratifying  the  desire  to  meet 
frequently,  or  even  live  with,  a  small  group 
of  congenial  individuals,  whose  habits  of  ex- 
penditure are  approximately  on  a  level.  The 
small  clubs,  so  called,  gratify  this  propensity. 
Twenty  to  forty  men  associate  themselves  to- 
gether, and  maintain  a  house,  or  some  rooms, 
to  which  they  habitually  resort  for  social  in- 
tercourse. These  clubs,  like  the  fraternities, 
are  often  helped  pecuniarily  by  former  mem- 
bers, who  remember  gratefully  the  pleasure 
their  club  gave  them  in  their  own  college 
days.  These  clubs  are  ordinarily  conducted 


SORORITIES  223 

with  much  privacy;  so  that  some  of  them 
may  occasionally  become  centres  of  luxurious, 
or  even  vicious,  living,  without  this  perver- 
sion coming  to  the  knowledge  either  of  the 
college  authorities,  or  of  the  main  body  of 
the  students.  Such  lapses  are,  however,  only 
occasional,  and  are  usually  corrected  either 
by  graduate  members,  or  by  new  members  who 
replace  the  men  who  have  led  the  club  astray. 
The  small  social  clubs  generally  illustrate  the 
principle  that  "  birds  of  a  feather  flock  to- 
gether,"—  a  principle  which  obtains  in  all 
human  as  well  as  bird  society,  and  which  demo- 
cracy cannot  eradicate,  and  need  not  wish  to. 
Sororities  have,  in  general,  the  same  merits 
and  advantages  as  fraternities,  but  being  of 
more  recent  origin  and  serving  the  sex  which 
does  not,  as  a  rule,  make  and  accumulate 
money,  they  have  difficulty  in  procuring  en- 
dowment or  adequate  revenues.  They  add  to 
the  social  enjoyments  of  their  members,  and 
give  them  a  sense  of  mutual  support  and  of 
good  fellowship.  They  are  especially  useful 
in  co-educational  institutions  which  do  not 


224  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION 

possess  an  adequate  number  of  dormitories 
for  women. 

The  fraternities  and  sororities  and  the  social 
clubs  in  American  colleges  and  universities, 
being  small,  exclusive,  and  secretive  groups, 
seem  inconsistent  with  democratic  principles  in 
general,  and  particularly  with  the  liberal  spirit 
of  a  society  of  scholars.  The  fact  is,  however, 
that  the  natural  human  being  wants  and  needs 
for  social  purposes  some  group  or  groups  larger 
and  more  various  than  the  family,  but  much 
smaller  and  less  various  than  the  entire  com- 
munity, or  even  than  the  entire  membership 
of  a  society  of  scholars.  For  social  purposes 
democracy  is  too  near  an  approach  to  infinity. 
The  limited  human  being,  even  when  fairly 
educated,  craves  a  limited  group  of  congenial 
associates  having  some  common  interest,  which, 
for  the  purposes  of  a  social  bond,  may  as  well 
be  narrow  as  broad. 

Fraternities  and  clubs  alike  can  be  utilized 
by  sympathetic  and  respected  college  officers 
in  confidential  ways  to  support  good  order, 
to  root  out  evil  practices,  and  to  control  and 


COLLEGE  SPIRIT  225 

reform  young  men  who  have  shown  danger- 
ous tendencies.  Public  misconduct  on  the  part 
of  any  of  its  members  is  held  to  discredit  a  fra- 
ternity or  club ;  so  that  the  officers  and  past 
members  of  any  respectable  fraternity  or  club 
will  labor  diligently  with  erring  members,  and 
at  the  instance  of  college  officers  will  take  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  to  protect  a  weak  brother 
against  himself,  and  to  prevent  him  from  in- 
juring the  reputation  of  the  society  to  which 
he  belongs.  Fraternity  or  club  companions  can 
often  exert  more  influence  and  a  more  constant 
influence  on  young  men  who  are  going  wrong 
than  any  college  officers  can  exert  directly.  It 
is  essential  to  this  good  influence  that  it  be 
private  and  unofficial  so  far  as  the  college  is 
concerned. 

The  phrase  college  spirit  undoubtedly  de- 
scribes a  real  thing,  but  this  spirit  is,  on  the 
whole,  much  the  same  in  all  the  American 
colleges  and  universities  which  are  old  enough 
to  have  traditions  and  inheritances,  variety  of 
spirit  existing  in  them  only  in  comparatively 
small  proportion.  Nevertheless,  slight  differ- 


226  SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION 

ences  in  tone  or  atmosphere  may  produce 
striking  effects  on  the  prevailing  quality  of 
the  graduates  of  different  colleges,  and  these 
effects  are  often  traceable  to  differences  in 
social  organization,  —  the  complex  result  of 
traditions,  manners  and  customs,  and  trans- 
mitted opinions  and  sentiments.  Even  real 
differences  of  policy  may  mean  only  choices 
of  different  means  towards  a  common  end. 
Thus,  a  real  difference  among  colleges  is  the 
difference  in  the  degree  of  freedom  permit- 
ted to  the  individual,  and  in  the  importance 
attached  to  the  development  of  individual 
mental  and  moral  power.  Some  institutions 
think  first  of  developing  individual  initiative 
through  freedom  of  the  will,  and  through 
offering  to  each  individual  all  the  best  means 
of  developing  his  own  personal  faculty ;  but 
they  prefer  this  course  because  they  believe 
that  is  the  way  to  promote  freedom,  efficiency, 
and  happiness  for  the  mass  of  mankind.  By 
working  primarily  for  the  individual,  they 
think  they  best  promote  the  interests  of  the 
mass.  Such  institutions  naturally  desire  to  serve 


TRAINING  LEADERS  — SERVICE ABLENESS    227 

all  professions,  elevate  all  occupations,  train 
leaders  of  thought,  and  equip  good  administra- 
tors or  managers  for  industries  which  direct  the 
physical  and  moral  capacities  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  people.  They  believe  that  effec- 
tive leaders  can  be  produced  only  in  freedom, 
and  through  the  most  assiduous  attention  of 
teachers  and  governors  to  individual  capacity 
and  promise;  but  the  benefit  of  the  led  is 
the  ultimate  object  of  training  leaders.  Other 
institutions  believe  more  in  prescription,  an 
average  product,  a  gregarious  enthusiasm,  and 
a  unanimous  motive.  They  believe  that  stud- 
ies should  be  accessible  only  in  groups  made 
up  by  educational  sages,  and  that  sports  are 
meritorious  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
team-play  which  they  develop.  They  believe 
in  collective  wisdom,  in  cheering  sections,  and 
consentient  multitudes.  These  differences,  how- 
ever, are  after  all  relatively  superficial.  At 
bottom  most  of  the  American  institutions  of 
the  higher  education  are  filled  with  the  mod- 
ern democratic  spirit  of  serviceableness.  Teach- 
ers and  students  alike  are  profoundly  moved 


228  THE  PRESIDENT 

by  the  desire  to  serve  the  democratic  commu- 
nity, to  strengthen  and  maintain  free  institu- 
tions, and  to  prove  that  in  time  free  institutions 
will  bring  forth  in  abundance  all  the  best 
fruits  of  liberal  culture,  such  as  artists,  schol- 
ars, musicians,  poets,  and  investigators,  great 
judges,  statesmen,  and  public  servants,  as  well 
as  honorable  practitioners  in  all  the  learned 
and  scientific  professions.  All  the  colleges 
boast  of  the  serviceable  men  they  have  trained, 
and  regard  the  serviceable  patriot  as  their  ideal 
product.  This  is  a  thoroughly  democratic  con- 
ception of  their  function. 

We  pass  now  to  a  consideration  of  the 
administrative  offices  of  a  university,  and  take 
up  first  the  office  of  president. 

The  president  of  a  university  is  in  the  first 
place  its  chief  executive  officer ;  but  he  should 
also  be  its  leader  and  seer.  In  order  to  give 
the  competent  man  every  opportunity  to  exer- 
cise the  functions  of  a  leader  and  inspirer,  he 
should  be  the  presiding  officer  of  the  trustees, 
or  other  property-holding  and  controlling 


HIS  RIGHTS  AND  FUNCTIONS  229 

board,  a  member  ex-officio  of  any  supervising 
board  which  the  constitution  of  the  university 
may  provide,  and  the  presiding  officer  of  every 
faculty  within  the  university.  There  are  Amer- 
ican universities  in  which  the  president  is  not 
by  right  a  full  member  of  the  board  of  trus- 
tees; but  this  is  an  unfortunate  arrangement 
which  diminishes  to  a  serious  degree  the  presi- 
dent's authority  and  influence. 

Fifty  years  ago,  it  was  not  unusual  for  the 
president  of  a  so-called  university  to  restrict 
his  interests  and  his  functions  to  the  college 
or  academic  department,  and  to  take  no  part 
in  the  administration  or  conduct  of  the  pro- 
fessional schools.  This  day,  however,  has  gone 
by;  and  every  university  president  worthy  of 
the  name  now  finds  opportunities  for  useful- 
ness in  all  the  professional  departments.  He 
is  able  to  carry  the  results  of  experience  in 
one  faculty  to  all  the  other  faculties,  and  to 
contribute  to  the  proper  coordination  of  the 
work  of  one  faculty  with  that  of  another,  or 
of  all  the  others. 

In  the  board  of  trustees  and  in  all  the  fac- 


230  THE  PRESIDENT 

ulties  the  president  should  invariably  name 
all  committees,  never  allowing  this  important 
function  to  be  usurped  by  any  private  member 
of  these  boards.  If  he  uses  this  power  with 
fairness  and  discretion,  he  will  obtain  in  the 
standing  committees  excellent  bodies  for  select- 
ing and  formulating  those  progressive  ideas  or 
projects  which  have  a  chance  of  commending 
themselves  to  the  governing  boards ;  and  mem- 
bership in  such  committees  will  be  the  means  of 
interesting  the  most  serviceable  men  in  feasi- 
ble improvements  of  policy  and  practice.  The 
selection  of  members  of  special  committees  on 
measures  of  current  interest  is  also  an  impor- 
tant function  of  the  president,  which  calls  for 
good  judgment  on  his  part  in  regard  to  both 
men  and  measures.  Indeed,  the  selective  dis- 
cretion of  the  president  in  such  matters  will, 
in  the  long  run,  go  far  to  determine  his  success 
or  non-success  in  a  large  and  well-established 
university,  the  government  of  which  is  neither 
autocratic  nor  democratic,  but  constitutional. 
The  relation  of  the  president  to  the  finances 
of  a  university  is  different  in  different  States 


HIS  FINANCIAL  FUNCTION  231 

of  the  Union,  and  in  State  universities  as  dis- 
tinguished from  endowed  and  tuition-fee  uni- 
versities. In  a  State  university  the  president 
needs  the  capacity  to  present  persuasively  and 
vigorously  to  a  legislature  the  case  of  the  uni- 
versity as  an  institution  which  repays  many- 
fold,  and  with  extraordinary  promptness,  every 
appropriation  which  the  legislature  makes  for 
it,  especially  when  the  appropriations  are  lib- 
eral. To  such  ends  the  president  of  a  State 
university  ought  to  know  how  to  use  the  pub- 
lic press,  the  granges,  the  popular  lecture,  and 
the  teachers'  institutes  as  means  of  awakening 
and  diffusing  popular  interest  in  the  univer- 
sity as  a  whole.  With  the  help  of  the  most 
far-sighted  deans  and  professors  in  the  several 
departments,  the  president  of  a  State  univer- 
sity ought  to  prepare  to  meet  future  needs 
of  the  population  which  the  university  chiefly 
serves,  and  to  meet  every  appropriate  demand 
for  the  services  of  the  university  as  soon  as 
the  demand  is  appreciable.  Every  new  service, 
or  demand  for  service,  should  be  made  the 
ground  of  an  application  to  the  legislature 


232  THE  PRESIDENT 

for  additional  resources.  The  president  should 
seize  every  opportunity  to  give  a  demonstra- 
tion that  the  university  has  made  a  direct  con- 
tribution to  the  welfare  of  the  State,  the  pros- 
perity of  its  industries  or  manufactures,  the 
success  of  its  schools,  or  the  influence  of  the 
learned  and  scientific  professions  within  its 
borders.  He  must  know  how  to  appeal  to  State 
pride,  in  order  to  increase  the  resources  of  his 
university. 

The  president  of  an  endowed  university  is 
rarely  called  upon  to  guide  the  thoughts  or 
influence  the  action  of  legislative  bodies. 
Occasionally  he  may  have  to  defend  the 
exemption  of  educational  institutions  from 
taxation,  or  to  support  projects  for  the  im- 
provement of  public  secondary  schools,  or  of 
normal  schools;  but  in  general  his  methods 
of  adding  to  the  resources  of  his  university 
are  different  from  those  of  the  president  of  a 
tax-supported  university. 

The  head  of  a  denominational  institution 
of  learning  must  necessarily  appeal  to  denom- 
inational zeal  in  general,  and  in  particular  to 


PROCURING  BENEFACTIONS  233 

the  denominational  organizations  which  main- 
tain interest  in  the  educational  institutions  of 
their  denomination,  and  provide  a  large  part 
of  their  resources.  In  an  institution  which  has 
no  denominational  affiliations,  the  president 
will  be  exempt  from  the  necessity  of  keep- 
ing such  affiliations  close  and  warm,  but  of 
course  cannot  draw  upon  any  denominational 
treasuries. 

The  popular  imagination  attributes  to  the 
presidents  of  endowed  universities  a  habit  of 
soliciting  contributions  from  very  rich  men, 
rich  childless  men,  and  sick  rich  men  and 
women ;  and  the  correspondence  of  rich  men 
would  doubtless  supply  evidence  that  some 
presidents  of  endowed  institutions  make  such 
applications.  There  are  also  cases  in  which 
prosperous  business  men  who,  as  presidents 
of  endowed  universities,  become  greatly  inter- 
ested in  the  success  of  their  institutions,  ask 
their  prosperous  business  friends  and  associ- 
ates to  join  them  in  making  up  an  annual 
deficit,  erecting  a  new  building,  or  completing 
a  new  endowment.  In  the  older  and  richer 


234  THE  PRESIDENT 

universities,  which  have  the  steady  support  of 
a  large  body  of  grateful  Alumni,  the  president 
need  not  engage  in  personal  solicitation  of 
gifts  to  his  university.  There  are  more  effec- 
tive methods  in  use,  to  which  the  president 
should  contribute  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 
Thus,  he  should  secure  complete  publicity  in 
regard  to  the  financial  situation  of  his  uni- 
versity; its  annual  receipts  and  expenditures, 
the  gifts  annually  received,  —  whether  for 
funding  or  for  immediate  use, — and  its  most 
pressing  pecuniary  needs,  should  all  be  pub- 
lished. Secondly,  publicity  should  be  given 
to  the  fact  that  the  university  scrupulously 
respects  in  theory  and  in  practice  the  wishes 
of  all  givers,  and  makes  the  beneficent  ac- 
tion of  every  endowment  perpetual,  so  far  as 
human  prudence  and  fidelity  can  go.  Thirdly, 
the  president  should  see  to  it  that  all  the  in- 
come of  the  university  is  used  appropriately 
and  frugally,  so  that  there  shall  be  no  mis- 
directed expenditure  and  no  waste.  Any  com- 
petent president  will  be  watchful  against  the 
increase  of  administrative  and  equipment  ex- 


THE  INDUCEMENT  TO  BENEFACTIONS     235 

penditures  at  the  expense  of  salaries  for  teach- 
ers,—  that  is,  he  will  be  on  his  guard  against 
mounting  expenditures  for  management  and 
materials  as  against  expenditures  for  direct 
teaching. 

Finally,  the  president  of  an  endowed  uni- 
versity, thinking  to  increase  its  resources,  will 
try  to  let  the  educated  public  know  what  the 
product  of  his  university  is  in  trained  men 
able  to  render  conspicuous  service  as  authors, 
men  of  science,  members  of  the  learned  and 
scientific  professions,  bankers,  managers  of 
corporations,  and  public  servants.  This  pro- 
duct will  be  independent  of  State  limits,  and, 
indeed,  of  national  boundaries.  Realization 
of  the  service  a  strong  university  renders  to 
the  country,  and  to  mankind,  is  the  great 
inducement  to  educational  benefactions ;  and 
it  is  therefore  an  important  function  of  the 
president  of  any  endowed  institution  to  see 
that  the  means  and  opportunities  of  that  real- 
ization are  supplied. 

In  any  university,  State  or  endowed,  the 
president's  most  constant  duty  is  that  of  su- 


236  THE  PRESIDENT 

pervision.  The  statutory  definition  of  his 
functions  should  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the 
universality  and  comprehensiveness  of  his  su- 
pervision. In  this  regard  it  would  be  difficult 
to  improve  on  the  Harvard  statute  on  the 
president  which  prescribes,  near  the  end  of 
the  statute,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  presi- 
dent —  "  to  direct  the  official  correspondence 
of  the  University;  to  acquaint  himself  with 
the  state,  interests,  and  wants  of  the  whole 
institution,  and  to  exercise  a  general  superin- 
tendence over  all  its  concerns."  Under  that 
statute  no  question  ever  arises  whether  it  is 
the  business  of  the  president  to  do  this  or 
that,  or  to  concern  himself  with  this  or  that 
part  or  aspect  of  the  university. 

The  president's  judgment  should  be  brought 
to  bear  on  every  question  of  promotion  within 
the  permanent  staff,  and  on  every  selection 
for  an  appointment  without  limit  of  time,  or 
for  a  long  term.  He  should  of  course  consult 
the  most  appropriate  advisers  within  and 
without  the  university  on  every  appointment ; 
but  his  own  mind  should  be  brought  to  bear 


PRESIDING  AT  FACULTY  MEETINGS      237 

on  every  important  selection.  The  president 
who  delegates  these  selections,  or  takes  little 
interest  in  them,  is  in  all  probability  neglect- 
ing the  greater  for  some  lesser  function.  He 
is  spending  his  strength  on  less  important 
matters,  and  neglecting  the  duty  on  the  right 
discharge  of  which  the  future  of  the  univer- 
sity chiefly  depends. 

Presiding  at  all  faculty  meetings  is  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  duty  of  the  president  of 
a  well-governed  university,  whether  tax-sup- 
ported or  endowed.  He  there  has  opportunity 
to  learn  the  personal  qualities  of  many  mem- 
bers of  each  faculty,  and  to  estimate  their 
judgment  and  their  public  spirit.  He  also  has 
opportunity  to  form  his  own  opinions  as  to 
the  feasibility  of  desirable  changes,  and  as  to 
the  means  of  advancing  projects  which  are 
promising  but  not  yet  ripe.  He  should  be 
better  acquainted  than  most  members  of  any 
faculty  with  the  prevailing  discussions  on  ed- 
ucation, sociology,  and  legislation,  and  should 
be  able  to  give  the  faculties  the  benefits  of 
his  observations  outside  the  university  world. 


238  THE  PRESIDENT 

He  needs  thorough  acquaintance  with  the 
schools  which  underlie  the  colleges  and  uni- 
versities, with  the  changing  conditions  of  the 
professions  which  the  university  feeds,  and 
with  the  alterations  in  the  national  indus- 
tries and  habits  which  cause,  or  should  cause, 
the  rise  of  new  professions. 

The  president  of  a  university  should  never 
exercise  an  autocratic  or  one-man  power.  He 
should  be  often  an  inventing  and  animating 
force,  and  often  a  leader;  but  not  a  ruler  or 
autocrat.  His  success  will  be  due  more  to 
powers  of  exposition  and  persuasion  combined 
with  persistent  industry,  than  to  any  force  of 
will  or  habit  of  command.  Indeed,  one-man 
power  is  always  objectionable  in  a  university, 
whether  lodged  in  president,  secretary  of  the 
trustees,  dean,  or  head  of  department.  In 
order  to  make  progress  of  a  durable  sort,  the 
president  will  have  to  possess  his  soul  in  pa- 
tience ;  and  on  that  account  a  long  tenure  will 
be  an  advantage  to  him  and  to  the  university 
he  serves. 

Inasmuch  as  it  is  the  object  of  the  university 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  EXAMPLE  239 

to  send  out  into  the  multifarious  occupations 
of  civilized  society  a  steady  stream  of  well- 
trained  young  men  who  mean  to  make  them- 
selves useful,  it  is  well  for  the  president  of  the 
university  to  make  himself  useful  in  some  field 
of  public  service,  without  as  well  as  within 
the  university.  He  will  thus  set  an  example 
which  will  be  more  influential  than  personal 
exhortation  with  the  youth  who  pass  within 
the  range  of  his  influence. 

Thirty-nine  years  ago,  a  young  man  who 
had  been  president  of  a  university  for  five 
months  made  at  his  inauguration  the  follow- 
ing remarks,  among  others,  about  the  quality 
and  function  of  a  president :  — 

"  The  President  should  be  able  to  discern 
the  practical  essence  of  complicated  and  long- 
drawn  discussions.  He  must  often  pick  out 
that  promising  part  of  theory  which  ought  to 
be  tested  by  experiment,  and  must  decide  how 
many  of  things  desirable  are  also  attainable, 
and  what  one  of  many  projects  is  ripest  for 
execution.  He  must  watch  and  look  before : 
watch,  to  seize  opportunities  to  get  money,  to 


240  THE  PRESIDENT'S  FUNCTIONS 

secure  eminent  teachers  and  scholars,  and  to 
influence  public  opinion  toward  the  advance- 
ment of  learning;  and  look  before,  to  antici- 
pate the  due  effect  on  the  University  of  the 
fluctuations  of  public  opinion  on  educational 
problems,  of  the  progress  of  the  institutions 
which  feed  the  University,  of  the  changing 
conditions  of  the  professions  which  the  Uni- 
versity supplies,  of  the  rise  of  new  professions, 
of  the  gradual  alteration  of  social  and  religious 
habits  in  the  community.  The  University 
must  accommodate  itself  promptly  to  signifi- 
cant changes  in  the  character  of  the  people 
for  whom  it  exists.  The  institutions  of  higher 
education  in  any  nation  are  always  a  faithful 
mirror  in  which  are  sharply  reflected  the  na- 
tional history  and  character.  In  this  mobile 
nation  the  action  and  reaction  between  the 
University  and  society  at  large  are  more  sen- 
sitive and  rapid  than  in  stiffer  communities. 
The  President,  therefore,  must  not  need  to 
see  a  house  built  before  he  can  comprehend 
the  plan  of  it.  He  can  profit  by  a  wide  inter- 
course with  all  sorts  of  men,  and  by  every 


DEANS  241 

real  discussion  on  education,  legislation,  and 
sociology." 

After  thirty-nine  years  of  experience  in  the 
same  office  he  finds  the  above  description  correct. 

A  fully  organized  university  contains  an 
undergraduate  and  a  graduate  department  of 
arts  and  sciences,  and  four  or  more  profes- 
sional schools;  and  in  many  universities  each 
of  the  two  departments  in  arts  and  sciences  is 
divided  into  two  parts,  —  one  of  arts  and  pure 
sciences,  and  the  other  of  applied  science.  At 
the  head  of  each  department  a  dean  is  ordi- 
narily placed,  who  is  its  chief  administrative 
officer.  In  most  cases  he  is  also  a  professor 
and  an  active  teacher,  who  gives  part  of  his 
time  to  administrative  work.  The  office  is 
comparatively  new  in  American  universities. 
Forty  years  ago,  there  was  only  one  dean  in 
Harvard  University,  — the  dean  of  the  medical 
faculty.  There  are  now  four  deans  connected 
with  the  Harvard  faculty  of  arts  and  sciences, 
and  five  other  deans  in  the  professional  schools 
of  the  University;  and  similar  administrative 


242  THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  A  DEAN 

dispositions  are  made  by  many  American  uni- 
versities. 

The  functions  of  a  dean  relate  almost  exclu- 
sively to  his  own  department  of  the  university ; 
but  within  that  department  they  are  compre- 
hensive. He  is  the  chief  adviser  of  the  presi- 
dent concerning  the  instruction  given  in  his 
school,  and  is  responsible  for  the  preparation 
and  orderly  conduct  of  its  faculty  business, 
and  for  the  discipline  of  its  students.  In  the 
undergraduate  departments  much  of  his  time 
is  given  to  intercourse  with  students  who  need 
advice  or  pecuniary  aid,  or  who  neglect  their 
opportunities,  or  become  dangerous  to  their 
associates.  For  the  younger  professors  and 
inexperienced  teachers  in  his  department,  the 
dean  is  a  counsellor  and  friend.  In  most  uni- 
versities deans  are  selected  from  among  the 
members  of  the  faculty,  and  they  hold  office 
without  limit  of  time.  They  may  best  be  per- 
sons who  are  capable  of  working  cordially 
with  the  president,  although  their  functions 
are  in  many  respects  independent  of  him. 
Much  of  the  work  of  a  dean  is  done  in  con- 


QUALITIES  OF  A  GOOD  DEAN  243 

formity  with  rules  laid  down  by  a  faculty,  or 
with  well-understood,  predetermined  policies 
of  the  university,  and  it  is  only  on  matters 
for  the  settlement  of  which  he  finds  no  such 
guidance,  or  on  new  pecuniary  problems,  or 
on  difficult  cases,  that  a  dean  will  ordinarily 
consult  the  president. 

It  is  obvious  that  for  the  discharge  of  these 
functions  a  dean  needs  good  judgment,  quick 
insight,  patience,  and  a  strong  liking  for  help- 
ful, sympathetic  intercourse  with  young  men. 
The  men  who  are  most  successful  in  the 
work  of  a  dean  are  neither  dry  nor  gushing, 
neither  rude  nor  soft;  they  are  alert,  atten- 
tive, sympathetic,  and  hopeful.  In  conducting 
the  business  of  his  office  a  dean  needs  the 
usual  qualities  of  a  good  administrative  officer, 
namely,  thoroughness  in  inquiry,  promptness 
and  clearness  in  decision,  and  assiduity.  In 
manner  and  address  he  ought  to  be  frank, 
considerate,  and  cordial.  He  ought  to  inspire 
confidence  and  win  regard,  and  be  capable 
of  exerting  a  good  influence  without  visible 
effort,  and  without  self-consciousness. 


2M  WORK  OF  A  DEAN 

In  a  large  department,  containing  many 
students,  the  work  of  a  dean  makes  a  serious 
demand  upon  a  conscientious  man  -whose 
feelings  are  quick;  so  that  deans  are  often 
compelled  to  retire  from  service  in  consequence 
of  the  incessant  drain  on  their  sympathies,  and 
the  exhausting  nature  of  parts  of  their  work. 
One  of  the  most  trying  parts  is  the  inter- 
course with  anxious,  dissatisfied,  or  unintelli- 
gent parents.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no 
part  of  university  work  which  brings  to  the 
faithful  worker  a  stronger  sense  of  being  use- 
ful, or  more  durable  satisfactions.  His  per- 
sonal contacts  with  young  men  are  numerous 
and  intimate.  He  often  knows  that  he  has 
done  good  to  people  in  anxiety  or  trouble, 
and  as  the  years  go  by  he  experiences  many 
of  the  legitimate  rewards  of  bringing  help  at 
critical  moments  in  other  people's  lives. 

It  is  generally  a  dean  that  in  the  course  of 
years  brings  to  pass  real  improvements  in  col- 
lege manners  and  customs  through  personal 
influence  on  successive  generations  of  stu- 
dents. To  produce  such  effects  he  needs  a 


SECRETARIES  245 

good  many  years  of  continuous  service,  dur- 
ing which  his  ameliorating  influence  gradu- 
ally takes  effect  on  the  young  men  in  his 
charge.  That  institution  is  fortunate  which 
can  command  the  services  of  the  right  kind 
of  men  in  its  deanships ;  and  the  president  of 
a  university  has  no  more  important  duty  than 
that  of  nominating  with  all  possible  care  the 
deans  of  the  several  departments. 

The  president  and  the  deans  alike  need 
assistance  which  is  by  no  means  of  a  clerical 
nature,  and  hence  in  a  large  university  there 
will  be  a  considerable  number  of  graduates  of 
the  institution  who  serve  as  secretaries,  and 
are  charged  with  administrative  work  which 
requires  acquaintance  with  the  university  and 
with  its  teachers,  officers,  societies,  clubs,  and 
cooperative  organizations.  Each  governing 
board  and  each  faculty  has  its  secretary,  and 
in  a  large  institution  the  president  may  have 
in  his  office  two  or  three  highly  educated  men 
who  conduct  the  larger  part  of  his  corre- 
spondence, prepare  his  business  for  the  board 
of  trustees,  communicate  with  persons  who 


246        THE  SECRETARY  OF  A  FACULTY 

have  business  with  him  and  make  appoint- 
ments for  them,  collect  information,  and  look 
after  the  official  publications  of  the  university. 
These  duties  are  often  of  a  confidential  char- 
acter, requiring  discretion  and  quickness  in 
action,  and  a  robust  loyalty  to  the  institution. 
The  dean  of  a  large  department  requires  also 
a  good  deal  of  clerical  assistance ;  because  the 
records  of  the  students  under  his  charge  as 
regards  their  attendance,  and  the  grades  which 
they  attain  at  examinations  or  for  written 
work,  must  be  kept  with  accuracy.  The  stu- 
dents' records  kept  in  a  dean's  office  are  not 
only  indispensable  while  the  students  are  mem- 
bers of  the  university,  but  are  also  in  many 
cases  useful  in  after  years;  although  the 
record  of  each  individual  is  held  to  be  confi- 
dential, there  are  many  proper  uses  to  which 
they  can  be  put  by  request  of  relatives,  friends, 
or  biographers. 

The  function  of  the  secretary  of  a  faculty 
is  by  no  means  unimportant.  The  history  of  a 
university  may  best  be  read  in  the  records  of 
its  board  of  trustees  and  its  faculties ;  for  the 


UNIVERSITY  PUBLICATIONS  247 

main  steps  of  its  progress  are  there  recorded. 
The  secretary  of  a  faculty,  like  an  administra- 
tion secretary,  needs  a  capacity  to  grasp  quickly 
the  thoughts  of  other  people  and  reduce  them 
to  clear  and  precise  written  form.  A  secretary 
who  can  pick  the  kernel  out  of  a  good  deal 
of  discursive  chaff,  or  express  concisely  the  re- 
sult of  an  involved  debate,  will  be  likely  to 
make  himself  very  useful.  If  he  can  do  those 
things,  and  is  fair  and  diligent,  he  may  be  a 
quiet  man  of  infrequent  speech,  and  yet  have 
a  strong  influence  for  good.  If  he  possesses 
also  some  gift  of  speech  and  some  charm  of 
style,  and  a  strong  memory,  his  serviceable- 
ness  will  be  greatly  enhanced. 

Every  vigorous  university  issues  in  these 
days  a  large  number  of  periodical  publica- 
tions, including  catalogues,  reports,  and  an- 
nouncements, and  also  a  considerable  number 
of  literary  and  scientific  publications  such  as 
annals  or  memoirs  of  observatories  and  muse- 
ums, theses  or  essays  produced  by  the  teach- 
ers and  graduate  students  of  the  university, 


24S  THE  APPOINTMENTS  OFFICE 

contributions  from  the  various  laboratories, 
syllabuses  of  lectures  and  laboratory  courses, 
so-called  studies  in  classics,  history,  and  eco- 
nomics, and  collections  of  examination  papers. 
These  various  publications  are  issued  in  a 
steady  stream  throughout  the  year,  and  a  com- 
petent agent  must  be  employed  to  superintend 
the  work  of  printing  and  issuing  them.  This 
work  needs  to  be  done  with  accuracy  and  effi- 
ciency ;  it  affects  every  teacher  and  student  in 
the  university,  and  many  of  its  future  mem- 
bers. Since  all  the  strong  American  universi- 
ties have  undertaken  a  great  deal  of  new  work 
within  the  last  twenty  years,  it  is  necessary  to 
bring  this  new  work  to  the  knowledge  of  gradu- 
ates, teachers,  parents,  and  pupils  at  school. 
The  distribution  of  this  information  must  be 
as  wide  as  the  country ;  for  the  stronger  univer- 
sities are  now  resorted  to  from  many  parts  of 
the  United  States,  or  indeed,  from  all  parts. 

In  years  still  recent,  several  American  uni- 
versities have  adopted  a  piece  of  administra- 
tive work  which  Harvard  University,  first 
among  American  institutions,  copied  in  part 


FOR  GRADUATES  AND  UNDERGRADUATES  249 

from  Oxford  University,  namely,  an  office 
through  which  members  of  the  university,  who 
need  to  support  themselves  wholly  or  in  part, 
may  obtain  appropriate  employment,  and  grad- 
uates of  the  university  ready  for  service  may 
obtain  employment  appropriate  to  the  educa- 
tion they  have  received.  In  England  the  work 
of  a  university  appointments  bureau  is  chiefly 
devoted  to  procuring  places  for  young  gradu- 
ates as  teachers,  civil  servants,  journalists, 
secretaries,  or  corporation  officers;  but  in 
America  a  wider  range  of  employment  for 
graduates  has  been  sought.  At  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  again,  there  are  very  few  under- 
graduates who  need  to  earn  their  living  while 
in  college ;  whereas  in  American  universities  a 
considerable  proportion  of  all  the  undergrad- 
uates must  be  self-supporting,  or  must  earn  a 
part  of  their  expenses.  In  the  larger  Ameri- 
can universities  the  work  of  the  secretary  for 
appointments  is  growing,  and  likely  to  grow, 
as  the  managers  of  large  producing  or  distrib- 
uting industries  realize  more  and  more  the 
value  of  highly  trained  young  men,  and  the 


260          DIRECTORS  OF  LABORATORIES 

extreme  difficulty,  in  these  days  of  applied 
science  and  minute  division  of  labor,  of  bring- 
ing up  competent  managers  from  the  ranks. 

In  a  university  in  which  are  maintained 
dormitories,  dining-halls,  and  a  cooperative 
society  for  supplying  the  articles  which  stu- 
dents inevitably  need,  —  such  as  clothing, 
books,  stationery,  furniture,  athletic  supplies, 
instruments,  and  sporting  goods,  —  two  or 
three  administrative  officers,  presumably  con- 
nected with  the  treasurer's  department,  must 
give  attention  to  these  matters,  and  particu- 
larly must  assist  the  students  in  their  conduct 
of  cooperative  undertakings,  like  dining-halls 
and  cooperative  stores.  Their  work  will  be 
partly  administrative  and  partly  accounting. 

The  directors  of  laboratories,  libraries,  and 
museums  have  an  important  part  in  the  ad- 
ministrative work  of  a  modern  university.  In 
their  accounting  they  need  assistance  from  the 
treasury  department.  Each  director  of  a  labo- 
ratory, library,  or  scientific  establishment  can 
employ  to  advantage  one  or  more  assistants  in 
the  routine  business  of  the  establishment;  but 


LIBRARIANS  AND  MUSEUM  DIRECTORS    251 

"he  ought  to  possess  himself  the  usual  admin- 
istrative faculties.  Every  laboratory,  observa- 
tory, or  museum  is  in  some  sense  a  workshop, 
and  the  head  of  it  ought  to  know  how  to  con- 
duct a  workshop  in  an  orderly,  economical, 
and  efficient  way.  Inasmuch  as  students  are  to 
be  trained  in  laboratory  work  to  the  careful 
and  precise  use  of  their  senses,  and  to  the 
procuring  of  the  most  favorable  conditions 
for  every  experiment,  every  laboratory  should 
be  tidy  and  clean.  Every  library  and  museum 
should  exhibit  the  most  careful  housekeeping, 
being  kept  as  free  as  possible  from  dust,  in- 
sects, crumbs,  and  accumulations  of  rubbish, 
not  only  in  the  show-rooms,  but  in  the  work- 
rooms and  the  receiving-rooms.  Librarians  and 
museum  directors  should  keep  clearly  in  mind 
definite  policies  concerning  the  relation  of  the 
bulk  of  their  collections  to  their  working- 
rooms,  their  exhibition-rooms,  and  their  spaces 
for  storage.  The  collecting  forces  of  a  library 
or  scientific  establishment  are  apt  to  outrun 
the  spaces  for  exhibition  and  the  resources  for 
utilization.  In  such  cases  the  director  may  be 


252    OBJECT  OF  UNIVERSITY  COLLECTIONS 

working  for  some  future  generation,  or  avail- 
ing himself  of  fleeting  opportunities  for  col- 
lecting ;  but  he  is  not  doing  his  best  for  the 
passing  generation.  In  a  university  intended 
for  the  instruction  of  each  generation  as  it 
passes,  there  are  limits  to  the  accumulation  of 
material  which  soon  loses  its  interest  for  living 
men  and  passes  into  the  domain  of  history. 
Collections  of  hand  and  machine  tools  and  of 
machinery,  which  for  a  few  years  may  have 
illustrated  actual  industries,  soon  lose  all  in- 
terest except  for  students  of  the  history  of  the 
trades  to  which  they  belong ;  yet  they  occupy 
much  space,  and  must  be  maintained  in  fair 
condition.  Thousands  of  books  in  every  gener- 
ation fall  into  a  similar  category.  They  have 
been  replaced  by  better  books,  and  have  no 
interest  except  for  students  of  the  history  of 
an  art  or  an  idea. 

A  university  which  proposes  to  be  an  effec- 
tive teaching  implement  for  each  new  gen- 
eration must  be  careful  how  it  undertakes 
to  maintain  great  museums  in  many  fields  of 
knowledge.  It  should  prefer  museums  of  mod- 


COLLECTIONS  SHOULD  BE  LIMITED     253 

erate  size  which  contain  only  a  few  specimens 
of  each  type,  and  those  often  replaced.  Its 
collections  should  be  always  thought  of  as 
teaching  materials,  partly  for  elementary  stu- 
dents, partly  for  advanced  students,  and  partly 
for  the  public  at  large.  The  buildings  should 
not  be  conceived  of  as  indefinitely  extensi- 
ble ;  but  as  having  fixed  limits,  the  contents 
to  be  made  choicer  and  more  instructive  by 
exclusion  and  selection  in  each  succeeding 
generation. 

This  rule  must  be  applied  to  books,  if  a 
library  is  to  be  kept  an  effective  treasure-house 
for  living  men.  The  directors  of  collections, 
whether  of  books,  specimens,  or  records,  need 
to  study  constantly  the  relative  expenditures 
for  collecting  and  for  utilization.  Utilization 
should  keep  up  with  collection ;  and  due  pro- 
portion should  be  observed  between  the  cost 
of  collection  and  the  cost  of  utilization,  else 
the  passing  generation  will  not  get  its  share 
of  the  fruition.  There  is  also  danger  that  if 
utilization  lags  behind  collection,  much  of  the 
cost  of  collecting  will  be  lost. 


254        BREADTH  OF  UNIVERSITY  WORK 

Any  one  who  makes  himself  familiar  with 
all  the  branches  of  university  administration 
in  its  numerous  departments  of  teaching,  in 
its  financial  and  maintenance  departments,  its 
museums,  laboratories,  and  libraries,  in  its  ex- 
tensive grounds  and  numerous  buildings  for 
very  various  purposes,  and  in  its  social  organ- 
ization, will  realize  that  the  institution  is 
properly  named  the  university.  It  touches  all 
human  interests,  is  concerned  with  the  past, 
the  present,  and  the  future,  ranges  through 
the  whole  history  of  letters,  sciences,  arts,  and 
professions,  and  aspires  to  teach  all  system- 
atized knowledge.  More  and  more,  as  time 
goes  on,  and  individual  and  social  wealth  ac- 
cumulates, it  will  find  itself  realizing  its  ideal 
of  yesterday,  though  still  pursuing  eagerly  its 
ideal  for  to-morrow. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


A.  B.,  degree  of,  significance  of, 
165. 

A.  M.,  degree  of,  41,  167. 

Academic  distinctions,  118. 

Academic  freedom,  27,  110. 

Accounts,  publication  of,  18. 

Address  lists  of  Alumni,  70,  75. 

Administrative  boards  under 
faculties,  105. 

Administrative  officers,  228 ; 
age,  103 ;  duties,  30 ;  salaries, 
15. 

Admission  requirements,  31, 
106. 

Advanced  study  scanty  before 
Civil  War,  152. 

Advertising,  78. 

Advisers  of  students,  148. 

Age  of  administrative  officers 
and  professors,  13,  103. 

Agriculture,  faculty  of,  81. 

Alumni,  address  lists,  70 ;  anni- 
versary celebrations,  67 ;  geo- 
graphical distribution,  70 ;  in- 
fluence on  undergraduates, 
114;  information  distributed 
among,  70 ;  organizations,  65, 
69 ;  local  clubs,  72 ;  of  profes- 
sional schools,  69 ;  secretary, 
72  ;  photograph  albums  of,  68 ; 
publications,  77 ;  as  trustees, 
27  ;  representation  in  trustees, 
45, 48, 49 ;  their  success  in  life, 
235  ;  vital  statistics,  67. 

Annual  appointments,  93,  95, 
101, 127. 


Applied  biology,  85. 

Applied  science,  faculty  of,  81, 

85 ;  relations  with  faculty  of 

arts  and  sciences,  85 ;  private 

practice  of  teachers,  86. 
Appointments,  7 ;    confirmation 

of,  50 ;  nominations  for,  111; 

president's  relation  to,  236 ;  of 

teachers,  90,  112. 
Appointments  offices,  76,  248. 
Appropriations  from  legislature, 

29. 

Architects,  employment  of,  24. 
Arts  and  sciences,  faculty  of,  81, 

82 ;  relations  with  faculty  of 

divinity,  84. 
Assistant  professors  as  members 

of  faculty,  87  ;  salary  of,  13. 
Assistants,  training  of,  185. 
Associated  Harvard  Clubs,  74. 
Associations  of  students,  220. 
Athletics,  fields  for,  22. 
Attendance  at  college  exercises, 

175. 

Bachelor  of  Arts,  degree  of,  sig- 
nificance of,  165. 

Bachelor  of  Philosophy,  degree 
of,  166. 

Bachelor  of  Science,  degree  of 
166. 

Bachelor's  degree  for  admission 
to  professional  schools,  170. 

Biology,  applied,  85. 

"Birds  of  a  feather"  in  social 
life,  223. 


258 


INDEX 


Board,  20.  See  also  Dining-halls. 

Board  of  Overseers.  See  Over- 
seers. 

Breeding  in  and  in,  danger  of, 
90. 

Brooks,  Phillips,  62. 

Brown  University,  corporation 
of,  44. 

Building  plans  for  the  future,  25. 

Buildings,  designs  for,  23. 

California,  University  of  19. 

Cambridge,  University  of,  8, 
249. 

Campus,  23. 

Carnegie  Foundation,  6,  16, 100, 
104. 

Case  method  of  teaching  law, 
178,  199;  in  subjects  other 
than  law,  203. 

Catalogue  of  graduates,  75. 

Chapel,  attendance  at,  61. 

Chicago,  University  of,  publica- 
tions, 77. 

Choice  of  studies,  guidance  in, 
149. 

Class  organization  of  Alumni,  65. 

Clinical  professorships,  96. 

Clubs  of  Alumni  in  different  lo- 
calities, 72. 

Clubs,  students',  220. 

Collectivistic  motives,  227. 

College,  its  relation  to  profes- 
sional schools,  40. 

College  records,  118. 

"  College  spirit,"  225. 

Commencement,  Alumni  gather- 
ings at,  71. 

Committees  of  faculty,  109 ;  of 
governing  boards,  6;  named 
by  president,  230. 

Common-rooms,  217. 


Competition  of  endowed  with 
State  institutions,  16. 

Conferences  of  teachers  and  ad- 
vanced students,  212. 

Conferences  to  test  and  help 
students'  work,  143, 183. 

Connecticut,  Collegiate  School 
of,  45. 

Consenting  bodies,  44;  see  In- 
specting bodies ;  Overseers. 

Constitutional  law,  84. 

Cooperative  societies,  20,  250. 

Cooptation  of  trustees,  47. 

Cost  of  living,  for  students,  20. 

Culture,  changed  ideals  of,  43. 

Dartmouth  College,  charter  of, 
44. 

Deans,  30,  105,  241 ;  "  one-man 
power  "of,  121,238. 

Degrees,  118  ;  requirements  for, 
31, 106. 

Democracy  in  social  life,  224. 

Denominational  institutions, 
functions  of  president  in,  232. 

Denominational  instruction,  84. 

Denominations,  control  by,  47. 

Departmental  buildings,  129. 

Departmental  organization  of 
instruction,  58,  82,  101,  108, 
110,  124,  125,  126. 

Departments,  relation  of  fac- 
ulty to,  128 ;  nomination  of 
annual  appointments  by,  128. 

Differences  among  colleges,  226. 

DiHing-halls,  20,  219. 

Directors  of  laboratories,  libra- 
ries, and  museums,  250. 

Discipline,  105, 114,  144. 

Divinity,  faculty  of,  relations 
with  faculty  of  arts  and  sci- 
ences, 84. 


INDEX 


Doctor  of  Philosophy,  degree  of, 

41,  167. 
Doctor  of   Science,  degree   of, 

167. 
Dormitories,  20,  217. 

Easy  courses,  136,  159. 

Elective  system,  131 ;  object  of, 
134;  in  Harvard  College 
started  by  Board  of  Overseers, 
58 ;  a  system,  not  a  "  bazaar, " 
131  ;  order  and  sequence  of 
courses,  132 ;  limitations  of 
choice,  133, 147  ;  time-table  of 
courses,  133;  unwise  combina- 
tions of  courses,  133 ;  easy, 
"soft,"  or  "snap"  courses, 
136,  159 ;  avoidance  of  early 
morning  and  late  afternoon 
courses,  136 ;  as  used  by  idle 
students,  136 ;  value  of,  for 
lowest  students,  137 ;  value 
of,  for  late-developing  minds, 
138 ;  graduate  study  pro- 
moted by,  140 ;  in  Harvard 
College,  140 ;  mixture  of  older 
and  younger  students,  139, 
141 ;  social  effects  of,  142 ; 
responsibility  of  individual 
student  promoted  by,  142  ; 
examinations,  143 ;  idleness 
not  induced  by,  143 ;  induce- 
ments to  strenuons  study,  144 ; 
minimum  of  work  larger  than 
under  prescribed  system,  144 ; 
moral  objects,  of,  144 ;  free- 
dom of  election  consistent 
with  strictness  of  require- 
ments of  study,  145 ;  com- 
pared with  prescribed  course, 
145 ;  in  professional  schools, 
147 ;  advisers  of  students,  148 ; 


honors  requirements,  149 ; 
grouping  of  courses,  149; 
group  system,  161,  227;  spe- 
cialization forced  by  group 
system,  164 ;  stimulating  to 
scholarship  of  teachers,  150; 
teaching  profession  affected 
by,  150 ;  works  well  under 
proper  administrative  meth- 
ods, 153 ;  in  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, 153 ;  concentration 
of  work  in  the  direction  of 
highest  capacity,  154 ;  con- 
centration not  carried  too 
far  by  undergraduates,  155  ; 
actual  choices  of  courses  are 
usually  wise,  155  ;  coherence 
of  studies  chosen,  156;  pro- 
fessional career,  courses  lead- 
ing toward,  159 ;  length  of 
elective  course,  167 ;  Fresh- 
man and  Sophomore  years, 
prescribed  courses  in,  167 ; 
two  years  of  free  election  not 
enough,  168 ;  courses  open  to 
Freshmen,  168 ;  professional 
studies,  foundation  for,  170; 
pecuniary  resources  affect  de- 
velopment of,  171 ;  liberal 
study  under,  165 ;  promotion 
of  intercourse  between  teach- 
ers and  students,  164. 

Employment  bureaus,  76,  248. 

Endowed  institutions,  advantage 
of,  1 ;  dependent  on  gifts,  17 ; 
function  of  president  in,  232  ; 
competition  with  State  insti- 
tutions, 16. 

Endowments,  28. 

Engineering,  faculty  of,  81. 

Enrolment  of  students,  79. 

Epidemics,  22. 


260 


INDEX 


Etiquette  of  relations  between 
trustees  and  faculties,  107. 

Examinations,  inspection  of,  52, 
63  ;  oral,  189 ;  use  of,  in  lec- 
ture courses,  182 ;  written, 
206. 

Exemption  from,  taxation,  19, 
232. 

Expense  of  instruction,  ques- 
tions affecting,  properly  re- 
ferred to  trustees,  107. 

Expenses  of  students,  20. 

Faculty,  the,  81 ;  functions  of, 
104,  119;  age  of  members,  87, 
88,  89,  101 ;  committees,  how 
constituted,  123 ;  committee 
on  instruction,  109 ;  deans, 
30,  105,  241;  delegation  of 
functions  by,  105 ;  delegation 
of  functions  to,  31 ;  depart- 
mental subdivision  of,  58,  82, 
108,  124,  125,  126;  depart- 
ments, function  of,  in  selecting 
teachers,  101 ;  in-breeding, 
90;  interference  with  teach- 
ers' methods,  110  ;  meetings, 
frequency  of ,  119;  meetings, 
value  of,  121 ;  meetings,  presi- 
dent to  preside  at,  237  ;  mem- 
bership in,  87  ;  membership 
in  more  than  one,  85  ;  mem- 
bership of,  changes  rapidly, 
100  ;  minority  in,  their  proper 
behavior  toward  trustees,  32, 
107 ;  nomination  of  teachers 
by,  111 ;  pecuniary  bearing  of 
questions  considered  by,  106 ; 
powers  of,  defined  by  trustees, 
30,  31 ;  recruiting,  ways  of, 
93  ;  relations  with  the  public, 
117  ;  secretary,  105, 246 ;  size 


of,  124  ;  trustees,  relations  to, 
107 ;  vitality,  inventiveness, 
and  enterprise  essential,  121  ; 
young  men  in,  87,  88,  89. 

Faculty,  of  agriculture,  81  ;  ap- 
plied science,  81,  85;  applied 
science,  relations  with  fac- 
ulty of  arts  and  sciences,  8"> ; 
arts  and  sciences,  81,  82  ;  di- 
vinity, 81,  84;  engineering, 
81,  85;  fine  arts,  81;  law, 
81,  83  ;  medicine,  81,  84 ;  how 
recruited,  96 :  nomination  of 
teachers,  113;  theology,  81, 
84. 

Fees.   See  Tuition  fees. 

Fellowships,  16. 

Finance,  deficits,  30  ;  surpluses, 
29  ;  president's  concern  with, 
230. 

Finance  committee,  7. 

Financial  matters  affected  by 
faculty  action,  106. 

Fine  arts,  faculty  of,  81. 

Fraternities,  221. 

Freedom  of  teachers.  See  Aca- 
demic freedom. 

Freshman  year,  prescribed 
courses  in,  167. 

Freshmen,  courses  open  to, 
168. 

Funds,  care  of,  60  ;  investment 
in  specific  securities  undesira- 
ble, 10 ;  see  Investments. 

"  General  "  investments,  10,  60. 

Geographical  distribution  of 
Alumni,  70. 

Gifts,  17 ;  acceptance  of,  27 ; 
from  Alumni  classes,  66  ;  soli- 
citation of,  233. 

Gordon,  George  A.,  62. 


INDEX 


261 


Governing  boards,  concurrent 
powers  of,  48 ;  matters  prop- 
erly referred  to  the,  by  fac- 
ulties, 106 ;  see  Trustees ; 
Regents. 

Governor  a  trustee,  45  ;  appoint- 
ment of  regents  by,  46. 

Graduate  Schools  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  41. 

Graduate  study,  scanty  in  Amer- 
ica before  Civil  War,  152  ;  re- 
lation of  elective  system  to, 
140. 

Graduates.   See  Alumni. 

Grounds  and  buildings,  care  of, 
23 ;  open  to  public,  22. 

Group  system,  161,  164,  227. 

Grouping  of  courses,  149. 

Hale,  Edward  Everett,  62. 

Harvard  Bulletin,  77. 

Harvard  Clubs,  74. 

Harvard  Graduates'  Magazine, 
77. 

Harvard  Law  School,  case  meth- 
od, 199. 

Harvard  Medical  School,  179. 

Harvard  Union,  220. 

Harvard  University,  Alumni  as- 
sociation, 71 ;  Alumni  repre- 
sentation, 49 ;  appointments, 
50  ;  Appointments  Office,  76 ; 
Chapel,  attendance  at,  61 ; 
charter,  6  ;  deans,  241 ;  de- 
gree of  A.  B.,  its  significance, 
166  ;  examinations,  206  ;  Fac- 
ulty, functions  of,  104  ;  gifts 
from  Alumni,  66;  governing 
board,  5  ;  Graduate  School  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  140 ;  hon- 
orary scholarships,  215;  hon- 
ors, requirements  in,  149 


Overseers,  49  ;  Overseers,  gifts 
from  or  promoted  by,  53; 
Overseers'  influence  on  Corpo- 
ration, 50 ;  Overseers'  meet- 
ings, 51 ;  Overseers,  restric- 
tion of  residence  within  the 
State  removed,  51 ;  Overseers, 
usefulness  of,  64 ;  preachers  to 
the  University,  62  ;  President 
and  Fellows,  5 ;  President's 
functions,  236,  239 ;  religious 
exercises,  attendance  at,  61 ; 
visiting  committees,  number 
of,  55 ;  voluntary  attendance 
at  Chapel,  61. 

Health  of  students,  22. 

Heating  and  ventilating,  22. 

Honorary  scholarships,  215. 

Honors,  requirements  for,  a 
guide  in  choice  of  studies, 
149. 

Hospitals,  22 ;  relation  to  medi- 
cal faculty,  96. 

Hours  per  week  of  university 
exercises,  109. 

Illinois,  University  of,  19. 

In-breeding  in  faculties,  90. 

Income,  insurance  of,  by  "  gen- 
eral "  investments,  10;  should 
be  spent,  29 ;  distribution  of, 
60. 

Individual  instruction,  172. 

Individualistic  motives,  226. 

Industries,  service  rendered  to, 
19. 

Infirmaries,  22. 

Inspecting  bodies,  44,  48 ;  bene- 
ficial influence  on  trustees, 
50 ;  checking  and  stimulating 
influence  of,  64  ;  constructive 
influence  of,  57;  needs  of 


262 


INDEX 


university  inquired  into,  54; 
publication  of  reports,  52 ; 
residence  of  members,  51 ; 
meetings,  51  ;  qualification  of 
members,  63  ;  visiting  com- 
mittees, 52,  53. 

Instruction,  committee  on,  109; 
departmental  organization  of, 
58;  inspection  of,  52,  53; 
methods  of,  174. 

Instructors,  qualifications  of,  90, 
93,  112  ;  members  of  faculty, 
87 ;  responsibility  of,  1 10 ; 
salary,  12 ;  selection  of,  90, 
93,  112  ;  tenure,  13,  32 ;  their 
work  open  to  criticisms  of 
faculty,  110. 

International  law,  84. 

Investigation,  as  a  qualification 
for  teachers,  93. 

Investments,  7,  8 ;  care  of,  60 ; 
funds  should  not  be  limited 
to  specific  investments,  10 ; 
"general,"  10,  60;  mort- 
gages, 8 ;  public  utilities  com- 
panies, 8 ;  railroad  securities, 
9 ,  "  special,"  10 ;  variety  de- 
sirable, 8,  9. 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  pub- 
lications, 77. 
Jurisprudence,  84. 

Kansas,  University  of,  19. 

Laboratories,  directors  of,  250. 

Laboratory  manuals,  189,  191. 

Laboratory  notes,  190. 

Laboratory  principles  in  sub- 
jects not  scientific,  194. 

Laboratory  work,  186;  danger 
of,  191 ;  problems,  193. 


Langdell,  C.  C.,  199. 

Lantern-slide  illustrations,  175. 

Law  as  a  field  of  arts  and  sci- 
ences, 84 ;  case  method  of 
teaching,  199. 

Law,  faculty  of,  81,  83 ;  in 
Europe,  83 ;  lecture  method 
of  teaching,  178 ;  private 
practice  of  teachers  of,  86. 

Learned  societies,  92,  151. 

Lecture  courses,  as  method  of  in- 
struction, 174,  178 ;  use  of  ex- 
aminations in,  183 ;  use  of 
section  work  and  conferences 
in,  183. 

Lectures,  public,  21,  118 ;  by 
invited  experts,  128. 

Legislature,  appropriations  from, 
29. 

Liberal  study,  165 ;  definition 
of,  166. 

Librarians,  250. 

Libraries,  administration  of,  36. 

Lieutenant-Governor  a  trustee, 
45. 

"  Line  of  least  resistance  "  as 
applied  to  elective  system, 
138. 

Living,  cost  of,  for  students,  20. 

Lodgings,  20. 

Luxurious  living,  223. 

McKenzie,  Alexander,  62. 
Maintenance,  relative  cost  of,  11. 
Marriage  of  teachers,  13,  102. 
Master  of  Arts,  degree  of,  41, 

167. 
Master  of  Science,   degree    of, 

167. 

Medical  education,  84. 
Medical  examination,  22. 
Medical  inspection,  22. 


INDEX 


263 


Medicine,  case  method  of  teach- 
ing, 204;  lecture  method  in 
teaching,  179 ;  observation 
work  in  study  of,  179 ;  private 
practice  of  teachers  of,  86. 

Medicine,  faculty  of,  81,  84; 
clinical  professors,  96 ;  a  de- 
partment of  applied  biology, 
85 ;  nominations  of  teachers, 
113 ;  relations  with  faculty  of 
arts  and  sciences,  85 ;  rela- 
tions with  hospitals,  96 ;  how 
recruited,  95. 

Methodist  denomination,  ap- 
pointment of  trustees  by,  47. 

Methods  of  instruction,  174; 
lectures,  174,  178;  object  of, 
176 ;  recitations,  174,  176. 

Michigan,  University  of,  19 ;  re- 
gents, 45 ;  constitutional  pro- 
vision for,  45. 

Minnesota,  University  of,  19. 

Missouri,  University  of,  19. 

Money  questions  affected  by 
faculty  action,  106. 

Montague,  Richard,  62. 

Municipality,  relation  to,  19,  21. 

Museums,  21,  36,  251. 

Needs    of    the   University,   in- 
quiry into  by  Overseers,  54. 
Note-taking,  189,  190. 
Number  of  students,  79. 

"  One-man  power  "  undesirable 
in  universities  or  faculties,  121, 
238. 

Oral  examination,  189. 

Original  investigation  as  a  quali- 
fication for  teachers,  93. 

Outside  work  by  university 
teachers,  86. 


Dverseers,  Board  of,  48,  49; 
checking  and  stimulating  in- 
fluence of,  51,  64 ;  number  of 
meetings,  51 ;  publication  of 
committee  reports,  52  ;  quali- 
fications of  members,  63; 
visiting  committees,  52,  53. 

Oxford,  University  of,  8,  249. 

Pensions.  See  Retiring  allow- 
ances. 

Periodicals  published  by  Alum- 
ni, 77. 

Ph  B.,  degree  of,  166. 

Ph.  D.,  degree  of,  41,  167. 

Photograph  albums  of  Alumni, 
68. 

Play-grounds,  22. 

Poor  men  in  college,  33,  76, 
214,  249. 

Popular  lectures,  118. 

Preachers  to  the  University, 
62. 

Prescribed  course,  compared 
with  elective,  145;  in  Fresh- 
man and  Sophomore  years, 
167. 

Prescribed  reading,  180. 

President,  the  presiding  officer 
of  each  faculty,  123,  237 ;  an- 
nual report  of,  58;  appoint- 
ments and  promotions  weighed 
by,  236 ;  functions  of,  30,  228 ; 
a  member  of  Board  of  Over- 
seers, 49;  "One-man  power," 
121,  238 ;  autocratic  power  not 
desirable  in,  238 ;  the  presid- 
ing officer  of  trustees  and  facul- 
ties, 229,  237 ;  tenure  of,  238. 

Preventive  medicine,  23,  84. 

Private  employment  of  univer- 
sity teachers,  83. 


264 


INDEX 


Probationary  tenure,  93, 95, 102. 

Profession,  courses  in  college  as 
foundation  for,  147,  159. 

Professional  schools,  admission 
to,  40,  41,  42,  170  ;  Alumni 
organizations,  09 ;  Bachelor's 
degree  for  admission  to,  170 ; 
elective  system  limited  in,  146. 

Professional  studies  not  less  cul- 
tivating than  college  studies, 
43  ;  relation  of  college  studies 
to,  170. 

Professors,  age  of,  13,  103;  as 
members  of  faculty,  87 ;  nom- 
inated by  faculty,  111 ;  qual- 
ifications of,  90,  93,  112; 
recruited  from  other  institu- 
tions, 95 ;  responsibility  of, 
110;  salary,  13;  selection  of , 
90,  93,  112;  tenure,  13,  32; 
work  open  to  criticism  of  fac- 
ulty, 110. 

Property,  management  of,  7. 

Prudential  committees,  6. 

Public  lectures,  21,  118. 

Public  opinion,  representation 
of,  in  inspecting  body,  48. 

Public  service  rendered  by  uni- 
versity teachers,  117. 

Publication  of  reports,  59. 

Publications,  77,  129,  247;  en- 
dowment for,  78 ;  of  Alumni, 
77. 

Publicity,  need  of,  18 ;  of  ac- 
counts, 18,  234;  in  corporate 
management,  65. 

Quiz,  the,  177,  183, 189, 193. 

Railroad  securities  for  invest- 
ments, 9. 
Beading,  prescribed,  180. 


Real  estate  investments,  8. 

Recitation  courses,  limit  of  size, 
177. 

Recitations,  174,  176. 

Records  of  student  work,  118 ; 
their  preservation,  119. 

Regents,  ex-officio  members,  3 ; 
president  of  university  a  mem- 
ber ex-officio,  46;  secretary, 
47 ;  number,  1,  3  ;  tenure,  1, 
5,  46  ;  see  also  Trustees. 

Religious  denominations,  con- 
trol by,  47. 

Religious  exercises,  attendance 
at,  61. 

Religions  toleration,  27. 

Reports,  annual,  of  president 
and  treasurer,  59. 

Research  courses,  210. 

"  Reserved  books  "  for  refer- 
ence in  college  courses,  181. 

Retiring  allowances,  7,  15,  33, 
100,  104. 

Rich  men  in  college,  214,  215. 

Roads,  contribution  toward  cost 
of,  22. 

Roman  law,  84. 

S.  B.,  degree  of,  166. 

S.  D.,  degree  of,  167. 

S.  M.,  degree  of,  167. 

Salaries,  99 ;  fixed  by  trustees, 
7;  of  administrative  officers, 
15 ;  relative  appropriation  for, 
compared  with  other  expenses, 
11 ;  scale  of,  12. 

Scholarships,  16. 

Science.  See  Applied  science. 

Scientific  collections,  251. 

Secretaries,  245. 

Secretary  of  faculty,  105 ;  of 
regents  or  trustees,  47. 


INDEX 


265 


Sectarian  instruction,  84. 

Section  work  in  lecture  courses, 
183. 

Seminaries,  210. 

Senators  as  trustees,  45. 

Seniority  as  the  basis  of  se- 
lecting department  chairmen, 
126. 

Sewers,  contribution  toward 
cost  of,  22. 

Sickness,  loss  of  time  from  study 
through,  23;  provisions  for, 
22. 

Smithsonian  Institution  trus- 
tees, 6. 

"Snap"  courses,  136,159. 

Social  conditions,  219. 

Social  effects  of  elective  system, 
142. 

Societies,  220. 

Socratic  method,  201. 

"Soft  "courses,  136, 159. 

Sophomore  year,  prescribed 
courses  in,  167. 

Sororities,  223. 

Source-books,  205. 

"  Special "  investments,  10. 

Specialists,  societies  of,  151. 

Specialization  compelled  by 
group  system,  164. 

State  universities,  faculty  in, 
117 ;  function  of  president  in, 
231 ;  competition  with  en- 
dowed institutions,  16. 

Statutes,  30. 

Student  clubs,  220. 

Students,  number  of,  79 ;  health 
of,  22. 

Summer  instruction,  118,  195. 

Superintendent  of  instruction  a 
regent  ex-officio,  46. 

Surpluses  of  income,  29. 


Tabular  view  of  courses,  time- 
table, 133. 

Taxation,  exemption  from,  19, 
232. 

Teacher's  career,  inducements 
for  entering,  99. 

Teachers,  qualifications  of,  90, 
93,  112;  tenure  of,  32. 

Teaching  profession  affected 
by  elective  system,  150. 

Tenure  of  office,  32. 

Term-time,  33. 

Testimonials,  unreliability  of, 
91. 

Text-books,  174. 

Theological  education,  84. 

Theology,  faculty  of,  81,  84, 

Thesis,  196. 

Time-table  of  courses,  133. 

Town  and  gown,  interests  of, 
19. 

Treasurer,  functions  of,  7;  an- 
nual statement  of,  59 ;  invest- 
ments cared  for  by,  7. 

Trustees,  access  to,  by  individ- 
ual members  of  faculty,  107 ; 
selection  of,  1,  26;  qualifica- 
tions of,  1,  39;  age,  1,  4; 
Alumni  as,  27  ;  appointments 
by,  7 ;  appointments  made  by, 
with  advice  of  departments, 
102 ;  class  influence  in  choice 
of,  1 ;  considerate  attitude 
toward  teachers,  37,  38;  edu- 
cational policy,  7;  executive 
committees,  6 ;  ex-officio 
members,  3,  45 ;  faculty  ac- 
tion that  is  wisely  referred  to, 
106;  faculties,  relations  to, 
7,  31, 37, 38, 106 ;  functions,  6 ; 
influence  of  Overseers,  or  in- 
specting body,  on,  50 ;  nuiu- 


266 


INDEX 


her,  1,  3,  44,  48 ;  political  in- 
fluence in  choice  of,  1 ;  powers, 
44  ;  property  management,  7  ; 
prudential  committees,  6 ;  sec- 
retary of,  245  ;  separate  boards 
for  special  objects,  60 ;  tenure, 
1,  5, 46 ;  vacancies,  how  filled, 
47. 

Trusts,  fidelity  to,  17. 

Tuition  fees,  16. 

University,  significance  of  the 
term,  40,  41,  42,  254;  com- 
pared with  college,  52. 

University  career,  inducements 
for  entering,  99. 

Unmarried  teachers,  102. 

Vacations,  33. 


Ventilation,  22. 

Visiting  committees,  52,  53 ;  in 
institutions  having  one  gov- 
erning board,  57 ;  number  at 
Harvard,  55. 

Vital  statistics  of  graduates,  67. 

Voluntary  attendance  at 
Chapel,  61. 

Water-supply,  22. 

Weekly  exercises,  normal  num- 
ber of,  109. 

Work  of  students,  amount  of, 
fixed  by  faculty,  109. 

Written  examinations,  206. 

Written  work  in  college 
courses,  174. 

Yale  University  charter,  45. 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U   .   S   .  A 


CHARLES  ELIOT 
LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT 

EDITED  BY  CHARLES  W.  ELIOT 

With  portraits,  views,  plans,  and  sketches 

"  Looked  at  from  the  technical  standpoint,  '  Charles  Eliot,  Landscape 
Architect '  is  of  remarkable  interest  and  value  to  two  classes  of  people  :  — 

"  Any  one  who  is  fortunate  enough  to  get  a  good  income  of  pleasure 
out  of  the  beauty  of  the  world  in  which  he  lives  and  works  often  has 
occasion  to  deplore  the  needless  sacrifice  of  that  valuable  element.  For 
such  a  one  this  book  is  not  only  stimulating  and  encouraging,  but  inform- 
ing :  it  crystallizes  vague  notions  into  the  form  of  clear-cut  ideas  fit  to 
serve  as  the  basis  for  intelligent  action ;  it  shows  how  a  man,  who  in- 
herited among  other  things  the  clear  vision  and  executive  ability  of 
President  Eliot,  has  pursued  such  ideas  to  successful  accomplishment. 

"  To  the  landscape  architect,  and  to  the  student  of  landscape  archi- 
tecture, the  book  is  all  this  and  more.  It  is  not  a  text-book ;  it  does  not 
deal  systematically  and  categorically  with  principles  of  design,  nor  does 
it  in  the  least  degree  furnish  '  recipes  for  laying  out  grounds.'  What  it 
does,  as  well  as  a  book  can  do,  is  to  put  the  student  in  contact  with  the 
personality  of  a  master  as  he  goes  about  his  work,  to  give  an  under- 
standing of  his  point  of  view,  of  his  aims,  and  of  his  methods  in  dealing 
with  such  problems  as  fall  to  him  to  solve.  No  other  treatment  of  the 
subject  could  so  well  awaken  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  wide 
range  of  principles  involved  in  these  problems." 

FREDEKICK   LAW  OLMSTED,  JR., 

Instructor  in  Landscape  Architecture  at  Harvard  University  and 
member  of  the  firm  of  Olmsted  Brothers,  Landscape  Architects. 

This  book  is  for  tale  at  all  Bookstores  or  may  be  ordered  directly  of  the  Publishers. 

SECOND  EDITION  :  7GO  pages,  8vo,  with  2  maps,  64  full-page  illustrations,  of  which 
5  are  double-page,  and  48  illustrations  in  the  text.  Bound  in  two  styles :  1  vol.  style, 
$3.50  net  (postpaid  $3.79),  and  2  vol.  style,  $4.00  net  (postpaid  $4.33). 


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